Kingdom Hearts: Linked Destinies
by Ace Flyheight
Summary: This is the tale of four teenagers after the Heartless invade Earth. Will they manage to push back the Heartless horde? Will any of them even survive? Will it all be for naught in the end? Come on in for answers to all of these questions and many more. Rated M just in case for intense action and some strong language.
1. Chapter 01 Shadows in the Street

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story that is currently copy-righted to any of the following: Square-Enix, Disney, Capcom, Microsoft, gohangeorge, and the owners of the songs/lyrics that will occasionally appear in later chapters. If I have left off any owner's name, please pm me or mention it in your review and I will add the name to this list.

Hello everybody and welcome to KH: Linked Destinies. *stretches a little* It's been a while since I wrote anything but I finally got my muse back and I decided to try to ease back into the Kingdom Hearts fandom with a new story. Hopefully, this story will be much better than some of my previous almost cringe-worthy stories.

Okay then, let's get back to the story at hand. Before you start reading, I kind of want to make a few things clear about this story so that I won't be hearing any flames or anything later on about not mentioning them in the first place. If you would not mind, please read this entire paragraph before you decide to either start reading the first chapter or hit the 'back' button in your browser. Yes, this story is a self-insert; it's actually a multi self-insert. Though unlike a good many self-inserts, I'm not trying to write anyone into the story as a Mary Sue or anything like that. The reason that I decided to write this story this particular way is because of something that I realized when I went back and read over some of my old stuff, mainly stories that I never got around to uploading on here. As it turned out, I had a bad habit of unintentionally having characters—my own OCs and canon characters alike—to fall OOC by the end of the story. That's why I decided to write this story as a SI—to try to overcome that problem. I realized that you can never be one hundred percent certain about whether a fictional character is still IC or OOC because you can't directly ask them. You can guess fairly well but it's impossible to be absolutely certain. That's where the SIs come in for me right now. I can actually ask these people directly to make sure that I have their selves in this story completely IC and not one little bit OOC.

I suppose that what I'm saying is that I'm not taking this story as seriously as I probably should since I'm using it more like a writing exercise in trying to keep people in character. It's definitely not an epic or something that will become a classic for fanfictions but who knows, maybe one of you that reads it will get a kick out of it. Well, that pretty much sums it up. Oh...one other thing, since I did say that this was being treated as an exercise I'm not putting a ton of work into it so if you see some plot holes or something; just mention it to me in a review or message me. Either way, I'll explain it probably at the beginning of the next chapter since I've got a lot of info that I haven't got around to putting in the story proper tucked away in some notebooks. Whew...that should sum it up. Well, I'm going to shut up now and hope that you enjoy the story.

* * *

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair as I continued to stare at the computer screen in front of me, occasionally clicking on something of interest. It was just the first day of Spring Break and I was already bored out of my mind. I'd even gone back and read through an entire fanfic trilogy that I had dubbed the Dark Knight Chronicles just to try to get rid of the boredom. I sighed again. I glanced over at the phone for just a moment and thought about calling my friend Daniel...Nah, he's probably either busy with chores or playing Halo. And on that note, I really have to try to do something about him getting addicted to Halo again; once was bad enough already.

Well, I guess that I should introduce myself. My name's Dustin Howell and I'm just your average high school senior. I guess that you could kind of call me a tech geek and a video game addict, mainly RPGs and action games but I'm not really all that picky.

I turned my focus back to the computer screen in front of me. I still had an essay on the Civil War and a book report to do for AP U.S. History and ten problems for Pre-Calculus, but they could wait until later. I'd get around to them eventually. I know, I know, ten problems for Pre-Cal. Should be easy to go ahead and get done quickly, right? Wrong, a lot of people say that I'm one of the smartest people in our school, definitely in my graduating class, but I'm a complete dunce when it comes to anything math-related. It's just impossible for me to actually wrap my mind around some of the crap that they try to teach us. It also doesn't help that we seem to have some kind of virus going around school when it comes to math teachers. We can't seem to hang on to our math teachers and the few that we do hang on to are usually out of school because of something.

I leaned back a little in my chair and tried to think of something to actually _do_. That was the only problem about living in rural Mississippi, there's nothing to do at all. I wasted several more minutes trying to think of anything and then finally just said:

"Ah, screw this."

I got up from my chair and left my room, grabbing my I-pod from the top of my dresser. I flicked the power button to on and placed the ear buds in my ears. I glanced down at the small screen on the I-pod and selected, 'Shuffle'. I placed it into the pocket of my blue jeans as I heard the first song start up.

I closed my eyes for a moment and started bopping my head to the music for a moment. 'Baccano no Theme', the theme song of Baccano, an anime that I had finished downloading a couple of months back. As for the song itself, if a character was going to do something awesome enough for the audience to go, 'Holy Shit', that was the song that would start playing. I smiled a little to myself as I opened my eyes back up and continued to listen to the song.

However, that smile faded from my face almost immediately as I stopped in front of my living room window and saw the sky outside.

"...What the hell is that?"

The sky outside my house had turned pitch-black with tendrils of crimson red snaking in and out through the clouds. Actually, let me rephrase what I said at first:

"What the fuck!? That's not normal!"

At that moment, I also heard the song on my I-pod switch over to 'One More Soul to the Call' from the Silent Hill Homecoming game. I felt a shiver run down my spine as I dug around in my pocket for it and flicked the switch back to off. I did not need to hear that song in particular right now. I yanked the ear buds out of my ears and stuffed them into the same pocket as well right before I noticed something else outside my window...Something that made my blood freeze solid as my mind tried to rationalize what I was seeing.

"How—how can—how can a—a fucking _Heartless_ be here?"

There was no other way to describe the creature slinking across my front yard. I know that those things only exist in Kingdom Hearts, but I couldn't have cared less at the moment. There was a frickin real-life Heartless staring at me from my yard. I saw it begin heading for the window and I got out of the living room as quick as I could. I forced the thoughts in my mind about how impossible it was for a Heartless to really be here away as best as I could as I ran into the kitchen. I yanked open the door to my dad's closet as quickly as I could and grabbed my grandpa's Browning Auto-5 shotgun that my dad always kept in there just in case somebody ever tried to break into the house. I checked the shotgun over, making sure that it was loaded and smiled a little as I realized that it was fully loaded. Before I walked away from the closet though, I grabbed a small box of 12 gauge shells and a medium-sized pouch. I dumped the shells out of the box and into the pouch before securing it to the left side of my belt for easy access.

With that done, I slung the shotgun's strap over my shoulder and let it hang against my back as I decided to grab one more thing before any more Heartless appeared outside. I headed back into the kitchen and started digging through the drawers trying to remember which one we had decided to hide it in.

"Thank god."

I pushed the rest of the junk in the drawer out of the way as I pulled out a Para-Ordnance P-14 1911-clone handgun. I sighed in relief as I also noticed several pouches containing fourteen-round magazines of .45 rounds next to its resting place in the drawer along with one magazine that wasn't in a pouch. I grabbed that magazine, sliding it into the base of the grip until it clicked into place, and spent a moment trying to get all of the pouches for the other magazines to fit onto the right side of my belt.

I headed towards the front door and caught a glimpse of my car keys still hanging beside the door. I remembered about how the Heartless were and if the only ones that were here were just Shadows like that one before then I might be able to get out of this without actually having to fight them. I placed the handgun in the front right pocket of my jeans—making sure the safety was still on—and grabbed the keys as I unlocked the door but didn't dare open it quite yet.

I shrugged the shotgun's strap off of my shoulder and gripped it in my right hand as I used my left to turn the door knob. As soon as I noticed that there was enough room to wedge my foot between the door and wall, I placed my left hand on the shotgun as well and used my foot to open the door the rest of the way.

"Oh crap!"

I jumped back as I saw that one of the Shadows had been waiting for me on the other side of the door. It jumped at me, knocking me onto my back on the floor. I struck out with my foot as I saw it try to jump on me a second time, catching it underneath its _chin_ and sending it flying into the wall. I got back to my feet as fast as I could and took aim as quickly as I could with the shotgun while it was still dazed. I said a quick prayer and pulled the trigger. The shotgun let out a deafening roar as the buckshot flew from the barrel and hit the Heartless just as it was finally getting back to its feet. I watched as it fell to the ground and began to fade into a black mist that quickly disappeared as well. I was actually surprised that it worked but I couldn't hang around any longer. I had to get going and get out of here. I quickly loaded another shell into the magazine and headed out the door into the garage.

There was another two Heartless in the garage, which I quickly dealt with—a single shot of buckshot each. I suppose that's one good thing about living in the South; you definitely learned how to use firearms properly. I made my way around to the side of my car, a 2008 G6. I pulled my keys out and unlocked the driver's side door, laying the shotgun on the passenger seat and climbing into the driver's seat. I put the key in the ignition and smiled in relief as I heard the engine start up without a hitch. I drove the car out of the garage and onto the road.

The second that I was on the road, I hit the accelerator and sped towards one destination in particular. I probably broke the speed limit within a matter of seconds but I didn't care. It's not as if anybody was going to give me a ticket with what was going on right now. Besides, I never really did pay attention to speed limits before so why start now?

As for the destination I had in mind, there was only one place that I could think of right now: my high school. The main ones who were probably still alive right now were the ones who probably understood what those creatures were like I did and who else besides a bunch of teenagers would play games like Kingdom Hearts in the first place?


	2. Chapter 02 Gathering of Hope

I made it to the school in a little less than twelve minutes and smiled as I saw two vehicles already parked in front of the building. I pulled in beside the vehicle to the right and recognized the car almost in an instant.

"I guess this means that Daniel's still alive."

I chuckled a little after a moment as I remembered something.

"Actually scratch that; he's not just still alive, he's probably inside somewhere kicking the asses of those Heartless. They can't be anything compared to his brother."

I opened my door and climbed out of the car, slinging the shotgun back over my shoulder with my left hand and drawing my pistol with my right. As I walked past the other vehicle—an Isuzu pick-up truck—, I tried to remember whom it belonged to but I couldn't remember off of the top of my head. I shrugged my shoulders and continued to walk past it towards the school's main entrance.

As I reached the entrance, I whistled a little at just how smashed in the front entrance was before I climbed through the broken wreckage and into the building itself.

After a few minutes of searching around, I was just about to give up when I heard footsteps. I turned around so that I was facing the same direction as the footsteps and brought my pistol—switching the safety off—up in front of me just in case.

"Freak! Thank goodness."

I breathed a sigh of relief and placed my pistol back into the pocket of my jeans although I still rolled my eyes a little at the person's nickname for me.

"Hey Daniel, glad to see that you're still alive."

I noticed the rusty katana in his hand after a few moments before pointing outside the window at the still-messed up sky.

"So, what the hell were those things? They looked just like—"

"I know, I know. They look just like Heartless and from what I can tell; they are Heartless...but hell if I know how they're actually here."

"By the way, when I got here there were two other vehicles here already. Yours was one, but who's the other?"

Daniel shook his head at me.

"I haven't seen anyone else since I got here so I don't know."

"Well, let's go look for them. We need all the help that we can get, right?"

Daniel nodded his agreement.

"Yeah."

"All right then, let's get going."

And with those words we began to make our way through the badly damaged school to try to find whomever had arrived in that other car and anybody else who might have come inside that was not a Heartless.

After a little while of searching all of the classrooms, we eventually finished checking the high school part of the building and began to check in the junior high section.

"Hey Daniel."

"Hmm?"

"We're fucked, aren't we?"

"Just keep looking."

I decided not to add one of my remarks to that and opened the door to what used to be the old junior high library before it was converted into a classroom.

As we walked inside, I heard footsteps again and felt my hand go to the grip of my pistol for just a quick moment.

"Anybody here?"

"Dustin? Daniel?"

"Krista? That you?"

"Yeah, it's me. Adam's here too."

I saw Krista and Adam appear from a small side room in the classroom and saw Adam give us a quick wave.

"Hey, glad to see that you two are still alive."

I gave Adam a quick wave back.

"Yeah, same here."

I glanced around the room for a moment longer before I turned my attention back to them.

"So, have you two seen anyone else around here besides us and Heartless?"

"No, and how the hell are there actually Heartless here?"

I shrugged my shoulders at Krista's question.

"Daniel's already asked me, so hell if I know."

"So what are we supposed to do now? The world's gone to hell and we're still here."

"Come on Daniel, we've been in way worse situations than this."

And for saying that, I got a quick glare from Daniel for a moment.

"...Okay, so we really haven't been in a worse situation before now."

I sighed a little and ran a hand through my hair absentmindedly for a moment as I tried to think of what we should do now.

After a moment, Krista piped up.

"Hey, don't you guys actually remember Kingdom Hearts at all? If the Heartless really are here then doesn't that mean that there must be a keyhole here on Earth somewhere?"

I smiled a little as I remembered about that but then my smile faded as I remembered something else.

"Only one problem though: even if the keyhole really is here and we found it, there would be no way for us to seal it because we don't have a keyblade with us. And from what I can tell, it doesn't look like any of us were chosen to wield one."

At that comment for some reason, Krista and Adam gave us a quick grin. I glanced over at Daniel and saw him shrug.

"Okay, what did I miss?"

Adam stretched his arm out and I had a feeling that I knew what was about to happen as a blinding light engulfed his arm for a moment.

"This."

A moment later, as the light faded away, I felt my jaw drop as I lay my eyes on what exactly was being held in Adam's hand.

"Adam, you're the Keyblade Master?"

I have to admit, as my eyes continued to linger on the keyblade, in that moment I was kind of jealous of him. Of all people, Adam? But in a way I suppose that I shouldn't have been surprised. In the games, the keyblade did have a habit of picking so called 'idiot heroes' to wield it. Happy go lucky idiots. I suppose that it's because they can easily look on the brighter side of life among other things. I pushed the thoughts away after a moment as I saw Adam dismiss the keyblade.

"Okay...we've got our Keyblade Master. Now, we've just got to find out where the keyhole is."

"How about Washington D.C.?"

I turned towards Daniel as I heard those words and nodded my head after a moment. At the same time though, my mind went back to those fanfics that I had been reading and I felt a small smile come to my face. Not only were the KH games actually real, but maybe that fanfic trilogy was real too.

"Perfect. Considering that it's the capital of the country and that the keyblade appeared here in the U.S., yeah it's the best place for the keyhole to appear."

"D.C.? Well, hopefully you two are right and the keyhole is actually there opposed to appearing somewhere on the opposite side of the country. Whew, that would seriously make a long journey."

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock."

I was still jealous but I decided to push the thoughts away again. It wasn't exactly right to take it out on Adam; it wasn't his fault that he was chosen to wield the keyblade after all.

After a few more moments of silence, Krista glanced up at all three of us and began to speak.

"Hey, do you guys think that the cheer-leading room might still be unlocked?"

The crap? Why would she be wondering about something like that?

"Yeah, I suppose so and even if it's not we still have Adam with us. We can just use his keyblade to unlock the door."

"Then let's head over there. There's something that I've been wanting to do since the Heartless appeared and I really want to try it."

"Okay, let's go."

I still didn't have a clue in hell about what she was talking about but if we headed down to the cheer-leading room, we might find some more people on the way there.


	3. Chapter 03 Equipment and Supplies

It took a little while to get to the cheer-leading room but we finally made it eventually. There was so much wreckage throughout the school that we had to take several completely different paths to finally make it to the room. The door turned out to be locked but that little annoyance went away after Adam summoned his keyblade and a beam of light emitted from it and collided with the door's lock. I tried the door after a moment and sighed in relief as the knob turned and I opened it all the way.

"So Krista, mind explaining about exactly why you wanted us to come here?"

I saw her turn towards me after a moment.

"In just a moment."

I watched her walk inside the room and grab some of the supplies—roll paper, brushes, paint, tracing pencils, that kind of stuff—before leaving the room and heading into the Commons, beckoning for us to follow her.

"Come on Dustin, you're first."

Me? First? Seriously, what the hell was she going to try to do? I watched as she lay down the paper on the floor and began to sort out everything next to the paper. I took a few steps towards the paper and glanced at her for a moment.

"Okay...so, what am I supposed to do?"

"Lay down on the paper for a moment."

I looked at her like she was crazy for a moment but then I shrugged my shoulders and laid down on the paper.

A moment later Krista began to trace my outline on the paper and finished after a moment.

As she finished, I stood up and just stared at the outline of myself on the paper for a moment.

"Okay, now what?"

"Patience. Now, what clothes have you always wanted to wear?"

I glanced over at Daniel and saw him nod his head at me. Whatever it was that Krista was doing, it seemed like Daniel had already caught on and was just letting me find out for myself. I sighed a little. I shouldn't have been surprised. Those two were cousins after all. They might not know what the other was thinking but they could probably figure it out eventually.

"Hmm, let me think. I suppose a trench coat like Dante's from Devil May Cry 4 and a pair of leather fingerless gloves. Oh and also, the armor that was on Terra's left arm in Birth by Sleep but on my right arm instead if you can."

I still didn't have a clue about what she was doing but I decided to just go ahead and play along.

Krista nodded her head.

"All right, give me a few minutes."

I nodded and took a few steps towards Daniel.

"...What is she trying to do?"

I didn't know why I whispered those words, maybe it was so that I wouldn't disrupt Krista's concentration.

"Just wait and see when she gets done."

I sighed a little. I should have known that I wouldn't get a straight answer out of Daniel like that. I glanced over at Adam and saw the same look of 'what the hell's going on?' on his face as must have been on mine.

Eventually, Krista finished her drawings on the paper and called all three of us over to where she had been drawing.

"Done! Now, watch closely."

Just on time. I was really starting to get tired of waiting but I guess that I'd find out what she was talking about now finally. I watched as she placed her hands on the drawing on the paper and closed her eyes.

Less than a minute later, her hands began to glow and I felt my jaw drop for the second time in the same day as I saw the drawing begin to gain depth and take on a 3-D shape. After a few more moments, her hands stopped glowing and she stood up from the paper.

Though, as she moved, my eyes continued to stare at what now lay on top of the paper.

"What—how the—how?"

I couldn't believe my eyes. Dante's coat, the gloves, and even the armor were now lying on the paper. I knelt down beside what was left of the paper and began to examine the items. I glanced over at Krista after a moment.

"The hell? They're actually real. How did you—"

She nodded a little at me and grinned widely.

"You remember what I said earlier about wanting to try out something ever since the Heartless appeared? Well, this was it. I've felt like drawing something ever since then and somehow in my mind, I knew that whatever I drew, I could make it real. The only problem was that when it was made real, it wouldn't be any bigger than it was on the paper. That's why I needed all that stuff from the cheer-leading room."

The first thought that went through my mind after that little explanation was definitely, 'What the—how the...' but as I started to think about it, I realized that I shouldn't have been nearly as surprised as I was. If Heartless were real and by extension that made Kingdom Hearts real, it shouldn't have been that much of a stretch to say that just about anything could be real now…and then one other thing clicked in my head: this was just like that scene with Amy back near the beginning of the first story.

"Cool! Hey, I'm next!"

I rolled my eyes a little as I began to gather up the coat, gloves, and armor. That was just like Adam. World goes to hell and he's still like a little kid seeing his first magic trick.

I could hear Krista laying down a second sheet of paper as I walked off to the side of the Commons to see how everything fit.

As it turned out, the coat was a perfect fit, right down to the size and everything; the gloves were just as good; as for the armor...that was a different story. It was a perfect fit too but the buckles and everything were a pain in the ass to get right. Eventually though I did get the armor fitted right on my right arm and was amazed at how everything looked after I had left the Commons for a moment to examine the clothes in the restrooms.

As I got back, I noticed that everybody else had their new clothes on as well. I suppose that either Adam or Daniel handled the tracing for Krista's own body while she drew the clothes like she did for everybody else; it would have probably been a major pain in the neck for her to try to draw her own outline on the paper. Daniel was wearing some kind of light armor based off of…crap, what character does that remind me of—that's right, Lavitz's human armor from Legend of Dragoon along with some kind of weird gem belt. Adam was, well, I'm not sure who he was supposed to look like besides a high school kid: a black zippered sleeveless shirt with a white sleeveless jacket with blue details, a belt, a pair of dark khaki pants, a pair of dark brown gauntlets on his hands, and black high-top converse shoes. And to end it, Krista was…well, Krista was wearing Tifa's outfit from Advent Children.

After I glanced at everybody's new outfits, I had a single idea come to my mind about what Krista had said earlier.

"Hey Krista, you were able to make these new clothes real just before now...do you think that you could make weapons real too?"

I seemed to catch her off-guard for just a moment but then I saw a smile come to her face and I knew what her answer would be.

"I'll have to try to make sure that I can, but if I had to guess, then yes."

And with that said, we each took turns deciding what we wanted and nearly felt like cheering when we saw each of the weapons begin to rise out of the paper. Okay, the world might have ended but for us in that instant, staring at the kinds of weapons that we had always dreamed about being able to actually wield, we were in heaven.

I reached down and picked up the weapon that I had asked for as well as the sheath and holster that I had asked for. After I got the sheath's straps buckled and noticed that everyone else had as well, I smiled a little as a single thought, that I voiced, came to mind:

"Those Heartless are fucked."

As I heard everyone else voice their agreement, I glanced over at the glass that still covered a small display case right there in the Commons and smiled a little at the combination of my new outfit and the weapons that I had now. My shotgun was still slung across my back, my pistol was now holstered against my right thigh and a replica of Nero's sword, Red Queen, was sheathed next to the shotgun on my back. I nodded at my reflection and met back up with everyone in the center of the Commons. I looked over everyone else's equipment and felt another smile come to my face though I had to laugh a little as I heard Adam voice his concern over one little 'problem.'

"I still don't get why I can't have something besides this keyblade."

I rolled my eyes a little.

"Adam, you've got the most powerful weapon in existence and you still want another weapon as well? Wow...and besides, when have you ever seen a keyblade wielder use another weapon besides their keyblade or keyblades, hmm?"

I turned back towards everybody after I saw Adam give up whining about not getting another weapon.

"So, you guys ready to head out? We've got a long journey ahead of us."

I saw Daniel give me a quick smirk signifying that he was ready as he shifted his weight a little to compensate for the twin handguns—Dante from Devil May Cry's Ebony and Ivory—and a replica of Gilgamesh's spear. I laid my eyes on Krista next and saw her flash me a quick smile showing that she was ready as well with her double-bladed staff. Finally, I allowed my eyes to fall on Adam and saw him grin and summon his keyblade for a moment, signifying his answer to me.

"Okay then, now we just need to decide how we're going to handle things. We've got three vehicles right now outside the school, that's great. We still need supplies though and a map if we don't want to somehow end up in Death Valley or even worse, Texas."

"About the map...What about Mrs. Newlin's classroom. Remember freak, you're taking A.P. U.S. History, don't you think that either one of those books might have a map in it or maybe she's actually got a map in all that junk she has piled up in that room?"

I nodded.

"Thanks for reminding me, Daniel. I don't remember there being a road map in that book but she might have one lying around in that room somewhere. Come on, let's check it out."

With that said, we began making our back down the central hallway from the Commons until we reached what was previously Mrs. Newlin's classroom. I tried the door and realized that it was locked just like the cheer-leading room. I motioned for Adam to come over and open the door for us.

"It's locked. Hey Adam, it looks like you're going to have to open another door."

I still didn't know how much help Adam would be in a fight but if nothing else then we could definitely always use him as a lock opener.

I then placed my hand on the knob again for the second time and slowly opened the door, reaching for my pistol in case a Heartless had somehow managed to make its way inside the room. I finished opening the door the rest of the way and sighed in relief as I glanced around the darkened room and didn't see a single one.

"Okay, now to start looking for a stupid map."

We began to search through the crap that she had piled up on her desk as well as everywhere else in the room. I could already tell that this was going to majorly suck.

"Found one!"

I felt a smile appear on my face as I turned and saw Krista holding up a printout of a road map for the U.S.

"Great! That gets rid of one problem. Now, we've just got to go get some supplies and we'll be on our way."

"Supplies? Like what?"

I heard Adam's question but didn't get a chance to reply as Daniel gave his explanation as to what supplies we needed.

"Food, drinks, and anything else we might need, duh idiot."

"Yeah, like flashlights, batteries, and anything else that could prove to be useful."

I knew that it would take a while for sure to try to gather up all the supplies that we'd need. I didn't really want us to split up so soon after just meeting up, but we needed to be on our way soon.

"Okay, since we pretty much know what supplies we need, we'll split up. Daniel and I will head out with our cars and grab some supplies from Joe's while Adam and Krista head out to Piggly Wiggly, T-N-T, wherever the heck you two want to go to and get the rest of the supplies. We need the food and drink right now; we'll worry about the rest later so just concentrate on getting those two for now."

I watched the two of them nod and head out, leaving Daniel and me alone for a moment.

"Ready to head out?"

I nodded a little.

"Yeah, let's go."

The two of us headed back out of the school, making sure that no Heartless were lying in wait for us. Eventually we made our way back out of the school and got in our cars, headed for Joe's.

We made our way away from school and pulled into Joe's, stopping our cars by the gas pumps. The two of us made our way towards the glass door and I nodded for Daniel to head closer as I unslung my shotgun.

"You get the door and if anything comes out, it's getting a face-full of buckshot."

Daniel must have noticed the grin on my face when I said that because I saw him grin a little as well as his hand wrapped around the doorknob.

"1..."

"2..."

"3!"

As I saw Daniel open the door in the blink of an eye, I quickly leveled the shotgun into the doorway but didn't see anything appear for a moment...though I did notice something weird after a moment as I took a few steps inside the doorway and glanced around at the floor.

"Daniel, get ready to put those guns to use. They're here."

"The floor?"

"Yeah, half of the damn floor's covered in Shadows. Hey, let's just keep to our guns right now. We don't need to destroy everything in here before we've got a chance to at least grab some so that we can say that we found some supplies. At least if we hit some stuff with our guns then we can just dig out and toss the bullets away, right?"

"Got it. Just make sure that you don't shoot every box of Twinkies in here with that damn shotgun. I want us to be able to get out of here with at least a single box of them, all right?"

I grinned a little. I knew from that Twinkies comment that Daniel remembered one of our little in-jokes. I readied myself as I saw the Shadows notice us and start closing in around us.

"No retreat. No surrender. Time to go."

"If not accuracy, then saturation."

Those two lines—our personal creeds—would be the last things said between us right then as every Shadow lunged for us in unison and we decided to show them exactly why you didn't fuck with humanity.

One lunged for my chest but I sidestepped around it, blowing it across the store with a blast of buckshot as my balance righted itself and glanced over to see five Shadows hit the ground and fade from a volley of fire coming from Ebony and Ivory. Damn, those things really could pack a punch. I heard another one sneak up behind me and I swung around and jabbed the barrel of the gun forward into the Heartless' head before delivering my second round of buckshot into its 'face'.

I didn't have enough time to aim as I saw another Shadow lunge at me and quickly slung the shotgun back on my shoulder as I unholstered my handgun and landed several rounds in its head before its claws could reach me. I watched Daniel kill another Heartless that had been hiding behind the counter that had been at my back and saw him point towards my shotgun for a moment.

I nodded my thanks, knowing what he meant without even saying it. I holstered my pistol for a moment as I unslung my shotgun and quickly loaded two more shells into it. Just as I was about to turn back around to get back to helping get rid of these Heartless though, I stopped for a moment as an idea came to me. I used the barrel of the shotgun to knock all of the stuff that was on the counter to the floor and placed a couple of shells and magazines on the now freed up space. Daniel got lucky with Ebony and Ivory since he could use them just like Dante without having to reload while I had to do it the old-fashioned way...but, that just meant that I would have to make sure that every shot counted.

I grinned as I saw several of the Heartless now coming back after me. I supposed that Daniel must have noticed that I was ready to get back to kicking ass. I leveled the shotgun in front of me and began to deliver a single round to each and every one as they came straight at me from between the rows of shelves. After I used up all five of my shells once again, I switched the shotgun to my left hand and started mowing them down with rounds from my pistol that I had brought back up in my right hand. As the Heartless stopped their attack for just a moment, I replenished the ammo in my shotgun and pistol and got ready for their next attack in what must have been just an instant compared to how long it took me to reload before now.

Eventually the last of the Heartless were finally dead and I sighed in relief as I checked how much ammo I had left. I used up a good bit but it looked like I definitely had enough for at least a few more fights before I would have to restock. As I glanced around at the destruction that we caused, I couldn't help but grin as one thing in particular caught my eye.

"Hey Daniel, guess what?"

"What?"

"There's a box of Twinkies, completely untouched."

I wasn't kidding even though I was still wondering how the crap that it had happened. On one of the shelves was an entirely untouched box of Twinkies...but every inch around the box was covered in bullet holes—almost all of which were buckshot.


	4. Chapter 04 Burning Rubber

As it turned out, in the time that it had taken us to clean out Joe's—the supplies and Heartless alike—Krista and Adam had already finished getting their portion of the supplies and had parked Adam's truck next to one of the few remaining open gas pumps at Joe's. Once we found out what supplies they had been able to get, I felt a smile come to my face as I ticked off a mental checklist of supplies that we needed.

"Yeah, that should be enough, at least for a while if nothing else."

As of right then, we definitely had enough supplies for a while—enough to fill up a good portion of the remaining space in our currently two cars and a pick-up truck. We had all three vehicles' gas tanks topped off now, several containers and jugs filled with gasoline—the containers and jugs having been found behind Joe's—, plenty of food—mostly snacks though and whatever else we could fix pretty quick and easy on the road—, a couple of bags filled with different drinks, and some other items that Krista and Adam had found after going to some of the other stores after getting their share of the food—flashlights, a few blankets, batteries, etc.

As I was just about to say that we were ready to go, I saw Daniel head back inside Joe's, acting as if he had forgotten something. A few seconds later, I felt myself start grinning as I saw him walk back out towards us holding something in his hands.

"Hey freak, while we were grabbing the supplies inside a little while ago, I decided to check to see if they might have just finished fixing any pizzas right before the Heartless attacked and wouldn't you know? As it turned out, they were and here's all three of the ones that were still warm."

I walked over and grabbed the top pizza box, feeling my mouth water a little as my nose caught a small whiff of the pizza's aroma. I started walking back over to my car, taking a single slice of pizza out of the box as I tossed the box and the rest of the pizza inside onto the front passenger seat. I turned around and gave everybody a quick grin as I took a bite out of the slice.

"Now, this is how a journey is supposed to start. Good weapons, great pizza, and ass-kicking to look forward to. And on that note, let's get going. We've got a lot of ground to cover so go ahead and grab a pizza box and start the vehicles up, and let's get on our way."

I gave a quick laugh as I climbed into my car and turned the key, smiling as I heard the engine turn over without a hitch and start up. Normally, I wasn't one to try to be a large ham like a moment ago but sometimes you just couldn't resist. I turned the radio on though I turned it right back off a moment later after hearing nothing but static on every channel. I smiled again after a moment as I thought of something. I hit the eject button on the car's CD system and saw that there was a CD in it. I pushed it back in and turned the volume up as I heard the first song start up. Once I knew what song it was, I rolled down all four windows and stuck my head out, looking at everybody for a moment.

"Hey guys, you ready? Let's rock."

I pulled my head back inside and turned the volume up to max as the song hit its first crescendo and grabbed a second slice of pizza as I hit the accelerator and sped away from Joe's.

_' All we need is lightning_

_With power and might_

_Striking down the prophets of false_

_As the moon is rising_

_Give us the sign_

_Now let us rise up in awe. '_

Hard Rock Hallelujah by Lordi. Now that was definitely a great song to start this journey off with. I swerved a little to avoid some debris that had made its way onto the road. I glanced up into the rear view mirror after a few minutes to make sure that everybody was still following behind me and smiled a little when I saw both vehicles still staying on my tail. I finished another slice of the pizza before I leaned over a little to open the glove compartment and grabbed the road-map that we had found back in the school and I had tossed in there when we left.

I slowed my speed a little as I unfolded the map one-handed—keeping my other hand on the wheel—and tried to figure out the directions for getting the hell out of Mississippi and into Tennessee. I finished glancing over the map after a few moments and sped back up as we reached the edge of town and kept on heading straight, hoping to reach Houston soon. From Houston we'd head to Okolona—getting on U.S. 45 there—, and make our way on the highway up and into Tennessee, getting off at Jackson, TN before getting on I-40 and then making a stop at Nashville, before heading onto Knoxville and then eventually heading on up to Bristol. Right now, we'd concentrate on getting to Bristol and resting there. It would put us on the state line between Tennessee and Virginia and we'd finally have two states behind us. Now, we just had to get to Bristol alive and preferably still in one piece.

"Aw shit..."

Me and my big mouth. I slammed on the brakes to keep from crashing into what I had suddenly noticed was in front of me. I breathed a sigh of relief as I heard the car screech to a halt and glanced up at the wreckage that barred our way. We had been driving for nearly fifty minutes and had finally arrived at the entrance to the city of Houston and now we couldn't even get into the city. The whole road was littered with debris and there was no way in hell that any of our vehicles could have made it through that wreckage and into the city without getting stuck. I leaned out the window and glanced back at everybody only to see them staring and pointing past me.

"Huh?..."

I slowly turned my head until I was glancing back over at the wreckage.

"...Oh, for the love of—"

As soon as my eyes had laid on the figure standing atop the wreckage, I felt a strong wind and saw the wreckage tossed to the sides of the road. The entire time, the figure had continued to stand exactly in the exact same spot. Yeah, he—she—it—whatever was actually floating in the damn air now.

"What the...Who are you?"

Yeah, took the words right out of my mouth Daniel. I got out of my car, always keeping my eyes on the figure, waiting to see what it's answer would be. Who or whatever it was, was wearing...I felt my jaw drop for just a moment and I realized that everybody else had to have come to the same conclusion. This person was wearing an outfit that strongly resembled that of Organization XIII though this outfit was white instead of black.


	5. Chapter 05 The Wind's Whispers

"You—You're not with the Organization, are you?"

The figure seemed to sneer at us from underneath the hood.

"Don't you dare lump me together with those pathetic little bastards. They were nothing compared to us. I am a member of the Order of Light. Sylph, the elemental master of Wind."

I continued to stare at the figure as the hood was slowly removed and I got a glimpse of the person beneath. It was a man, who could not have been any older than late 20s with yellow—maybe orange—eyes and short green-tinted hair. As I stared into those cold eyes, I felt my hand slowly wrap itself around the grip and trigger of my pistol. _The_ Order of Light? But, wait—I don't remember any of them being named 'Sylph'…although all that stuff that Senka said…maybe this is a different timeline in which Roy's journey never occurred and that also has a different Order. I shook my head after a moment; I couldn't let my mind wander right now. I need to keep my focus on this guy and not on all the what-ifs of the situation. Although…I wonder if this would work…

"Now, I cannot and will not allow you to take one step furth—"

At that moment, a single shot rang out though it would never reach its intended target.

"Did you really think that would work?"

Sylph was grinning and staring down at me alone now—my bullet floating in the air less than two inches from his forehead.

"I control the wind you idiot."

I saw his grin widen a little as the bullet softly fell to the ground, completely useless.

"Now, which of you wishes to die first?"

I was just about to say that I would when I thought of something and glanced back towards Daniel for a moment and felt a grin come to my face.

"Hey Daniel, how about you handle this guy? After all, you always were a fan of Dragoons and here's your chance to show off against someone who thinks that he is the master of the wind."

I saw him grin a little and shrug his shoulders as he hefted Gilgamesh's spear onto his shoulder.

"Hey, if you insist. Turn some music on first though. We can't have a battle without music, right?"

"Hell yeah. Already on it."

I glanced over at Krista and Adam and saw them give me a quick glare for what I guessed must have been ignoring them the entire time since Sylph had shown up.

"Sorry about ignoring you two. If it means anything, Krista, you can take on the next guy like this one that we meet. As for you, Adam, well, let's just wait and see."

I laughed a little as I noticed the grin on Krista's face from the prospect of being able to actually have some fun soon before I leaned back inside the car and punched the CD player back on.

As I heard the song start up, I leaned against the side of my car and started tapping my foot on the ground as I gave Daniel a quick grin and nod.

"Time to kick ass. Now get started, Daniel."

As I saw Daniel give me a quick grin back, I glanced back up at Sylph and noticed that he was looking at us as if we had gone crazy with everything just now.

"This is just how we do things down here in Mississippi. Have to set the mood before we start kicking ass."

_' They fall in line_

_One at a time_

_Ready to play_

_(I can't see them anyway) '_

I could see Daniel start bobbing his head to the music for just a moment as he recognized the tune. Blow Me Away by Breaking Benjamin. Definitely an appropriate song for this fight.

"Dragoon versus a wind elementalist. Heh, no sweat. This'll be over quick."

For just a moment, I could see a twinkle in Daniel's eyes and knew that this was going to be good.

"So, you call yourself the master of wind? Well, let me tell you a little something—"

_' No time to lose_

_We've got to move '_

Daniel hunkered down and gave a quick charge straight towards Sylph but feinted at the very last moment just as a blast of wind pounded into the asphalt where he had just been. Using the momentum from the feint, he slingshot himself off from a nearby pile of rubble and sped right past Sylph, landing back on the ground, grinning.

"What was that supposed to be?"

_' Steady your helm_

_(I am losing sight again) '_

Sylph started laughing for just a moment before he finally felt a surge of pain in his chest and glanced down to see a deep gash cut all the way across his upper chest.

_' Fire your guns_

_It's time to run_

_Blow me away_

_(I will stay, in the mess I made) '_

"—You are no match for the power of a true Dragoon!"

I knew right then that this guy was completely screwed if he couldn't have seen that coming. The Dragoons were truly the kings of the sky and Daniel was just about to show us why.

_' After the fall_

_We'll shake it off_

_Show me the way '_

"You—you bastard! How'd you—no matter..."

Sylph grinned a little as he took his hand away from the still bleeding gash and stared at Daniel for just a moment.

"...I guess that I'll just have to actually get serious this time with you."

I could still see the almost-knowing grin on Daniel's face as he listened to Sylph's words.

"Let's see just how serious you can get."

_' Only the strongest will survive_

_Lead me to heaven, when we die_

_I am the shadow on the wall_

_I'll be the one to save us all '_

Not a moment after those words left Daniel's mouth, what must have been every piece of wreckage in the area began to form a cyclone around him. I knew that he hadn't had time to dodge; it had started up much too quickly and had now trapped him outside...but, at the same time, I knew that it wasn't over yet. This battle had only just begun.

From inside the cyclone, Daniel hadn't once felt afraid for his life even as the cyclone engulfed him. He flipped over one piece of wreckage as it flew towards him and landed back on his feet. He waited a few more moments as he continued to watch the wreckage until he felt as if he had the seemingly random pattern down.

"Now! Here's my chance!"

_' There's nothing left_

_So save your breath_

_Lying in wait_

_(Caught inside this tidal wave) '_

Daniel made a sudden leap of faith into the far side of the cyclone, impaling it with his spear as it continued to fly through the cyclone. He saw his next chance and leaped off of the wreckage onto another nearby piece and another, and another, as he swiftly but surely made his way to the very top of the raging cyclone.

_' Your cover's blown_

_Nowhere to go_

_Holding your fate_

_(Loaded I will walk alone) '_

All that I had been able to see of Daniel as he had made his way through the inside of the cyclone had been nothing more than a blur. I smiled a little as I realized what he was doing and planning on doing. Now, I just wondered if Sylph would be able to hopefully not figure out his plan of attack.

After a few moments, I saw Daniel standing on top of a piece of wreckage that was flying around the rim of the very top of the cyclone looking down at all of us for just a moment.

I watched as he took a leap of faith off the 'platform' and descend straight down towards Sylph in a manner very reminiscent of the Jump ability of the Dragoons of Final Fantasy. Though I noticed one thing that was off about his attack. The moment that he had taken his 'leap of faith', there had been a faint glow like some kind of aura surrounding his body for just a single fleeting moment.

_' Fire your guns_

_It's time to run_

_Blow me away_

_(I will stay, in the mess I made) '_

"Hey Sylph! Here comes death from above!"

"What the—"

Before Sylph was even able to finish speaking, the spear dug through his chest, piercing his heart and skewering his body.

A single scream could be heard moments later as Sylph's body finally crashed into the earth; Daniel now standing over him with the spear hefted back over his shoulder like some damn ancient hero.

_' Only the strongest will survive_

_Lead me to heaven, when we die_

_I am the shadow on the wall_

_I'll be the one to save us all. '_

I felt a grin come to my face as I heard the song end and saw Daniel standing there, victorious.

"A little quick but that was definitely what I would call a good fight. Definitely impressive; only took two strikes."

I made my way over to where Daniel and the quickly-dying Sylph were, though Daniel was already making his way back over to Krista and Adam whom I could already hear giving him congratulations among other things about his fight.

I kneeled down a little beside Sylph and saw him in what must have been excruciating pain but I pushed the thought away from my mind. I had questions that I needed answers for.

"Hey, don't you dare die yet. I've got some questions for you first."

"Can't you...let a man...die in...peace...but...fine...on...one con...dition."

"What condition?"

"Kill me...afterwards...Put me...out of...my...misery."

I nodded.

"I understand. I'll make it as quick as possible. Now, who are the Order of Light? What are they doing here?"

If nothing else, I had to make sure. I had to know how to plan for what we would be facing.

"Okay...the Order...there's...five of...us...four elemental...masters...and our...leader...We're trying...to...purify th...the...worlds...by...cleansing them...of those...with...impure...hea...hearts... You and...your friends...your hearts...stained...even your...Keyblade...Master's...but especially... you and the...one...fought..."

As he stopped talking and began gasping for breath, I knew that he was finished with what he was going to tell me. It wasn't as if he had to hide anything now because he was a dead man no matter what he said. I stood up and checked to make sure that I still had a round chambered in my pistol.

"Shit…just what I was worried about."

I leveled the gun at his head for just a moment before finally shutting my eyes and squeezing the trigger. I opened my eyes after a moment and brushed my free hand across Sylph's eyes—closing the lids—before I placed the pistol back in its holster. I turned around and began to make my way back to everybody so that we could continue on our way.


	6. Chapter 06 Hotels and Watching Eyes

After the incident with Sylph, we had continued on our way through Houston and eventually made our way into Tennessee, leaving Mississippi behind us.

After leaving Houston, we had spent what must have been about five and a half hours or something like that driving before we finally reached the city of Nashville in Tennessee. I yawned a little as I looked at the different signs until I finally found one for 623 Union Street. I smiled a little as I pulled into a small parking lot and got out of my car, waiting for everybody else to catch up.

"So, what's up with pulling into this parking lot, Dustin?"

I felt a small grin come to my face as I heard Adam's question.

"Well, it's starting to get late and we need a place to kick back for a while, right? Right. And since we're in Nashville, we might as well stay in the Sheraton. It's about the best hotel around here and better yet, it's completely free, right?"

I saw the grins appear on all three of their faces as they realized exactly what I meant. I knew that it wouldn't be the kind of luxury that you could expect to have while staying in the homes of the famous in Hollywood or at the Ritz but it would still definitely be considered a luxury compared to what we had back in Bruce.

"Well, ready to live it up like rock stars for a night?"

As I saw their nods, I knew that I had picked the right place to stop at. I glanced over my left shoulder at the huge building next to the parking lot with the word, 'Sheraton' emblazoned on it. I felt another grin come to my face as I saw those letters. Tonight was definitely going to be awesome.

We left the parking lot and headed towards the building. At best, we'd have the best hotel that Nashville offered; at worst, depending on how you looked at it, we might have to clear some Heartless out from in it. We made it inside the lobby after a few minutes of walking and I had to nearly bite my tongue to keep from laughing at the awestruck expression on Adam's face from seeing the interior of the hotel.

Even though Daniel and Krista were behind, I could almost see the two of them rolling their eyes at Adam as he raced off to check out the rest of the hotel. I shook my head a little as I made my way behind the front desk and started glancing over the rooms listing and tried to find a couple of key cards so that we would be able to actually get in our rooms without having to bust the damn doors down.

"Hey freak, having any luck yet?"

"Give me a second Daniel. This hotel's got way too damn many rooms."

I sighed in relief after a moment and thumped my fingers against the rooms listing as I found the suites listing. I whistled to myself a moment later as I realized that this hotel had forty-nine frickin floors.

"Hey you two..."

I stopped and grinned a little before I decided to continue.

"...I think that we hit the jackpot. Floor 49, the top floor...Two frickin Presidential Suites! The Jefferson and Jackson Suites."

I tossed two key cards towards the two of them but kept an additional two in my hand. I could see the grins on their faces as they realized exactly how good the accommodations were going to be.

"So, who's going to tell Adam about this?"

I heard Krista's question and I felt my grin twist into a slightly mischievous one.

"Well, you can't open the rooms without a key card like the ones that I just tossed you and we've currently no clue about where he's at in the hotel. I've got a second card with me right now that I'll give to Adam later but for now..."

I stopped right there for just a moment as I took a few carefully measured steps towards the elevators and pressed the button.

"...I say that we go ahead and get to the rooms and get everything split up before we tell Adam. We'll just tell him that we searched for him and couldn't find him anywhere."

At that moment, the doors to the elevator closest to me opened up and I flashed Daniel and Krista a quick grin.

"Hope that you two can catch up pretty quick or I'm taking one of those suites all to myself."

I saw a flash of recognition pass between them as they realized what I had just done but it was too late. I had already punched the button for the forty-ninth floor and the doors had closed before they could reach me, though just as the doors closed I could have sworn that I heard the other elevator's doors open.

As I waited for the elevator to eventually reach the top floor, I suddenly burst out laughing. I have no clue why I burst out laughing right then but if I had to guess then it was because of our situation. Heartless apocalypse, world goes to hell, everything turns to shit, and yet here we are acting like a bunch of little kids at a candy store while multiple nukes go off in the distance. That pretty much summed up our current situation

Eventually I got my laughter under control just as I felt the elevator stop and saw the doors open.

I decided to close my eyes for just a moment and make sure that I had myself back under control before I took the first step out of the elevator and—

"How—What the?"

—Saw two people grinning at me from the doorways of the two Presidential Suites. At first I didn't have a clue about how they beat me, though once I thought about it, it made sense. It looked like I had been right about that other elevator opening earlier and they must have raced out as soon as the doors opened back up on this floor, while I had been making sure that I had my body back under control.

I sighed a little but felt a smile tug at the corners of my mouth after a moment. Well, I had lost the race but I hadn't been planning on staying in either room very much tonight, anyway.

I began walking towards the Jefferson Suite and could see an almost mischievous grin on Krista's face.

"Yes Krista, this means that you can lock Adam out for the night if you really want to."

I turned back towards Daniel and began to make my way inside the Jefferson Suite.

"I suppose that we're rooming tonight, Daniel."

I saw Daniel shrug his shoulders a little as I continued my way inside the suite, taking a look around for a few moments. I whistled a couple of times as I checked out everything and could definitely see why this place was called a Presidential Suite.

"Hey freak, catch."

I turned around just in time to see an unopened can of Mountain Dew flying towards my face. I caught it before it could connect though and popped the top as I looked to see where it had come from and saw Daniel standing beside a medium-sized fridge, drinking something that he had grabbed out of the fridge.

"Thanks."

I saw him give me a quick nod before he glanced over towards the bed and then back at me, a slight grin on his face. I shrugged my shoulders a little and motioned towards the couch.

"You can have the bed, I'll take the couch."

I turned around and began to walk out of the room but stopped for a moment.

"Hey Daniel, I'm going to head outside for a while and get some fresh air."

"All right, I might join you later. I'm going to take a shower right quick and maybe check up on my dear cousin for a few minutes."

I felt myself chuckle a little before I gave a slight wave of my hand over my shoulder and left.

"Just don't annoy her too much."

I knew that Daniel wouldn't heed my words but if what I was planning on testing later actually ended up working, then he definitely might want to be more careful of pushing her too far from now on.

I made my way back inside the elevator just as the other elevator's doors opened and Adam went flying past me, probably to check out the rooms on this floor. I smiled a little as I realized that he hadn't seen me and that _his_ key card was still in _my_ pocket. I was kind of curious about whether or not Krista would end up letting Adam into the room but I could always find those details out later. I pressed the button for the first floor lobby and watched the doors close and felt the elevator begin its descent.

After what felt like forever, the elevator's doors finally opened and I took two steps out into the hotel's lobby. I made my way back to the lobby's entrance and opened the front doors only to be greeted with the cool breeze of the late evening. I glanced around for a few moments before I decided to try to find a good place to get started.

I probably spent a good thirty minutes or so just wandering around before I finally found a good place. It was an old apartment complex still in the process of being torn down to make room for something else. Probably about a third of the entire structure was still standing with the rest of it in different stages of being called 'wreckage.'

I glanced around for a few moments before something finally caught my eye and I smiled a little.

_Right on time._

In the structure's shadows, I could see yellow eyes and knew that the Heartless were here. I unsheathed Red Queen and held it in my right hand as I watched the Heartless come towards me from the shadows.

_Well, it's as good a time as any._

I held my left hand out, palm facing the Heartless and saw it begin to faintly glow as I decided what to test.

"Fire!"

Almost exactly as I said those words, I saw a small flame begin to form in front of my hand before it suddenly grew in size and shot towards the Heartless, knocking several of them backwards.

"Wow...I actually didn't expect that to work...but since it does, I'm definitely going to have some fun."

And with that, I waded into the remaining Heartless; a Blizzard spell forming in my left hand and my right hand prepared to swing Red Queen at a moment's notice.

"You call this catching some fresh air?"

I rolled my eyes a little as I recognized the voice, but I felt a slight smile come to my face too.

"Hey Daniel, I was starting to think that you had decided to go to bed and weren't coming."

I motioned towards the night sky for a moment for emphasis before I did a half-turn, burying Red Queen into yet another Heartless.

Daniel shrugged his shoulders for a moment before glancing at all of the remaining Heartless.

"Nah, I didn't feel sleepy yet so I decided to come see what you were up to. So, mind if I join in?"

I shrugged my shoulders as well as I skewered another Heartless on the end of the sword.

"Just don't expect to have any background music."

"Too bad, Metallica's For Whom the Bell Tolls would fit this so well."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

I swiftly dodged a pair of claws that had been aimed at my chest and grinned for a moment.

"Hey Daniel, check this out."

"Firaga!"

Compared to the simple Fire spell that I had cast earlier, this one was a _**lot**_ stronger. It killed most of the Heartless directly in front of me and nearly finished off the few remaining ones; which I finished off with a single slash each.

"Cool. So, any kind of magic works? And not just the ones from Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts?"

I shrugged my shoulders as I felt my vision blur a little for just a moment as I tried to catch my breath.

"Don't know, I haven't tried any kind of magic outside of those two yet. Just be careful if you're going to try it. I didn't realize it earlier with those weak Fire and Blizzard spells but it seems like our bodies can't take casting too many powerful spells at a time. That Firaga actually caused my vision to blur for a moment and my body just went from feeling energized to actually shaking a little from the strain."

Daniel gave a slight nod of his head to show that he heard me.

"Okay, thanks for warning me."

I waved him off.

"Don't mention it. I'm going to rest for a moment and catch my breath. Have fun."

I had to let Daniel have some fun, right? And well, I actually did need to take a break so it was a win-win situation.

I took a few steps back so that I wouldn't be disturbed by either the Heartless or by one of Daniel's potentially wayward spells. I sat down and leaned back against the side of the apartment complex as I decided to watch Daniel fight for a little while.


	7. Chapter 07 Raging Waves

I yawned a little and slowly opened my eyes to be greeted with nothing but darkness. I stretched a little and was eventually able to make out some furniture around me and what faintly resembled a light bulb above me. I yawned again and tried to remember exactly what I was doing here laying on my back on the floor and my legs up on what felt like a couch...Oh, that's—

"Hey, it's morning you two! Up yet?"

—A sound like the flicking of a light switch and—

"Ahh! For god's sake, please turn that off!"

—I rolled on my side and under the coffee table as I tried to get rid of the stinging sensation in my eyes. As it turned out, that really was a light bulb that I had been staring at...frickin' Krista having to turn it on while I was still trying to wake up.

After a few moments, the light was turned off and I sighed in relief.

I finally got up from under the coffee table and wondered for a moment why I hadn't heard Daniel say anything either when Krista had turned on the light or when I had yelled at her to turn it off. I got my answer though a moment later when I glanced over at the bed and saw him lying on his stomach with one of the pillows braced against the top and sides of his head, probably to block us out. I heard Krista's footsteps and noticed her out of the corner of my eye after a moment.

"So, are you two ready to go or not?"

I rolled my eyes and chuckled a little.

"I guess that I'm up now...just had to wake up staring straight at a damn light bulb was all..."

"So, what about him?"

"Oh Daniel? Just give me a second and I'll have him up."

I walked over beside the bed and grabbed a handful of the pillow and yanked it up somewhat to get Daniel's attention.

"Get up Daniel. If I have to get up, then so do you."

"...Fine fine, just give me a damn second."

I turned back to Krista after a moment as I realized that somebody was missing.

"Hey, where's—"

"—Oh, Adam's down in the kitchen fixing himself some breakfast."

I yawned again and stretched a little as I listened to Krista explain where our little Keyblade Hero was.

"Okay then. Well, I'm not really hungry or anything so I'll go on and head out to the parking lot. You guys can come out there whenever you finish, all right?"

And with those words said, I gathered up my weapons, placing them back in their proper places, and made my way out of the Suite and over to the elevator. I pressed the button for the first floor and leaned against the back wall of the elevator as it began its descent. I rolled my shoulders a couple of times and stretched my arms a little; smiling once I finally got all the cramps out. I felt the elevator stop after a few moments and heard what sounded like a smoke alarm going off as I reached the lobby.

I took a look around the corner of the lobby and saw a trail of smoke coming from the kitchen along with a series of mumbled words that I couldn't understand. I sighed and rolled my eyes after a moment. Only Adam. I decided to leave him to whatever the hell it is that he was trying to cook. I headed back to the front entrance of the lobby and made my way outside towards our parked vehicles.

I opened the driver's side door as soon as I reached my car and slid onto the seat as I put the keys in the ignition and turned the CD player on. I smiled after a moment as I heard the next song start playing and leaned back against the seat a little as I began tapping my right hand's fingers on the steering wheel to the opening beat of It's My Life by Bon Jovi.

_' This ain't a song for the broken-hearted_

_No silent prayer for the faith-departed_

_I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd  
You're gonna hear my voice  
When I shout it out loud! '_

I sat there in the car for probably about five to ten minutes before I noticed something strange in the distance out of the corner of my eye. I remembered Sylph's last words as I realized that the figure that was heading this way was wearing a white robe. I got out of the car as fast as I could and made my way back towards the hotel's entrance just as It's My Life reached its final chorus once again, but this time not on repeat.

_' It's my life_

_And it's now or never_

_'Cause I ain't gonna live forever_

_I just want to live while I'm alive_

_(It's my life)_

_My heart is like an open highway_

_Like Frankie said_

_I did it my way_

_I just want to live while I'm alive_

_'Cause it's my life! '_

I reached the hotel's entrance just as everybody was walking out.

"Hey Dustin, what's up? I thought that you were going to be waiting for us out in the parking lot."

"Yeah Adam, I was. Let's just say that something's come up. Another one of those Order of Light guys is here."

I turned towards Krista and knew what she was going to ask me so I went ahead and nodded before she could.

"Yes Krista, I haven't forgotten. This one's all yours."

Just as those words left my mouth, I heard someone's voice from behind us start addressing us.

"So, you're the punks that killed Sylph? How'd a bunch of kids like you manage to do that?"

"Well, how about we show you?"

I watched as Krista hefted her double-bladed staff onto her shoulder and grinned a little. I grinned back and nodded as I turned around to face the newcomer. As it turned out this second member was a young woman, probably in her late twenties, with icy blue hair and eyes that matched Sylph's.

"She's all yours, Krista. Take her out."

"Come on, show me how you defeated Sylph. Try to see if you can actually beat me, Nixe, the elemental master of Water."

As I watched Krista get into an attack stance, I heard the opening guitar riff of the next song start blaring from my car's sound system and grinned to myself as I recognized the beat. 5. Marz by Megaherz. It was a German song that Krista had got me to listen to so many times that I literally had an English translation permanently stuck in my head now. We had always kidded her about it being perfect for a fight song for her and, well, I guess that now would be as good a time as any to test it.

_' Siehst du mich?_

_Do you see me?_

_Hrst du mich?_

_Do you hear me? '_

I felt my grin widen a little as I saw a slight sparkle in Krista's eyes as she recognized the music and tapped her foot on the ground for just a moment.

"Krista."

I saw her turn toward me for just a moment and I took the chance to conjure a small Fire spell in the palm of my hand.

"Just so you know, Daniel and I found out last night that we can use magic now. Just thought that you might like to know that. Oh, and as far as we can tell, that does include any kind of magic or anything like it that you've ever seen or read. Well, good luck."

_' Was hab ich dir getan,_

_What did I do to you, '_

I saw Krista widen her eyes at the display of magic before an almost mischievous grin spread across her face as she nodded and twirled the staff in front of her once, showcasing that she was truly ready.

_' Warum zerstrst du mich?_

_Why do you destroy me?_

_Fhlst du mich?_

_Do you feel me? '_

In the blink of an eye, the battle had begun. One of the blades of Krista's staff met with the sharpened edge of what I realized after a moment was Nixe's single cutlass sword.

Krista effortlessly broke the stalemate with a quick flick of the wrist and dodged Nixe's under-handed strike, retaliating with her own strike that cut through the cloth on Nixe's left arm.

_' Sprst du mich?_

_Do you feel me? '_

I felt a grin come to my face a moment later as I saw Krista mouth a single word and saw a Firaga spell launch itself at Nixe, who dodged it at the last moment but not before getting singed by it.

"Ohh...playing with fire, aren't we? Well then, I'll just have to put it out."

_' Wenn du mich nicht mehr liebst,_

_If you do not love me any longer,_

_Warum berhrst du mich?_

_Why you affect me? '_

A moment later the ground began to crack underneath Krista's feet and a torrent of water suddenly lunged up, engulfing her and sending her flying back. She stabbed the end of her staff into the ground and stopped herself from flying any further back while using the momentum to send herself flying back towards Nixe instead.

I had to admit, I really hadn't expected her to be able to recover that quick but I was glad anyway.

_' Brauchst du mich?_

_Do you need me? '_

Nixe was stunned for just a moment as she saw Krista's quick recovery but recovered herself just in time to side-step Krista's strike and send another jet of water at Krista's unguarded back.

I whistled a little as I saw her foot touch the ground and help her to dodge the jet of water; counter-attacking with a slash of the staff that opened up a gash in Nixe's side.

"You little bitch!"

"Well, you're the one that wanted to see how we defeated that friend of yours, Sylph!"

_' Sag glaubst du nicht,_

_Don't say that you believe,_

_Dass es besser ist,_

_That it is better,_

_Du lebst dein Leben ohne mich?_

_That you live your Life without me? '_

A growl rose up from behind Nixe's clenched teeth before a smile crossed her lips. Whatever she was thinking, I knew that it couldn't be good.

Not even a moment after she had grinned, I heard something like the sound of rushing water. As I glanced around where we were, I saw something that literally made my jaw drop.

_' Erkennst du mich?_

_Do you recognize me? '_

"...Oh fuck...Everybody, get back to the damn hotel! Now!"

_' Verstehst du nicht?_

_Don't you understand? '_

As it turned out, that sound of rushing water was actually the sound of tidal waves coming at us from all around.

Once I saw Krista run back towards us and saw everybody run back towards the hotel like I had just said, I turned tail and ran as well. I was never one for running away except under two conditions: one, seeing something like this shit happening in front of me and two, knowing that I could plan a counter-attack. Besides, we had to get to higher ground and the Sheraton was a damn high building.

_' Warum bist du berhaupt noch hier,_

_Why are you at all still here,_

_Was willst du noch von mir?!_

_What do you still want from me?! '_

I breathed a sigh of relief as I reached the inside of the lobby and heard the doors electronically close behind me just as the first wave crashed against the outside of the hotel.

"Wow, you little brats actually run pretty fast..."

I turned around and saw Nixe laughing at us from the opposite end of the lobby.

"...But, the better question is: can you run fast enough?"

_' Augen auf,_

_Eyes which,_

_Wer sieht versteht,_

_Sees and understands, '_

I saw everybody's eyes widen just as I heard the sound of cracking glass come from behind us.

"Shit! Get up the stairs!"

I knew that if we got in the elevator and the circuits shorted out from the water then we'd be screwed. Even if it did slow us down, we'd have to take the stairs.

_' Wie gnadenlos die Zeit vergeht,_

_How merciless the Time passes, '_

As we made our way up the inner stairwell of the hotel floor by agonizing floor, Nixe attacked and Krista retaliated—each one matching the other's moves.

_' Wie sich der Zeiger dreht,_

_Like the Pointer turns, '_

Eventually I saw a door at the top of the stairwell and rushed through it as soon as I could get it opened enough only to find myself on the roof of the hotel. I glanced behind me as I heard footsteps and saw Daniel and Adam come rushing through as well.

_Where's Krista?_

_' Unentwegt..._

_Incessantly... '_

A moment later, my thought was answered as I saw a giant spout of water come rushing out of the doorway and up into the air; Krista and Nixe still trading blows even as Krista began to be engulfed by the water for a moment as it rose higher over the rooftop.

_' Er steht nie still!_

_He never stands still! '_

I saw Krista mouth something and realized after a moment that she had focused a Blizzard spell to her feet so that she could fight on even ground—well, in this case, even water—with Nixe. She swiftly dodged another one of Nixe's strikes, using her staff to balance herself out on the water, just as...

_' Du weit nicht, was du willst,_

_You do not know, what you want, '_

"Don't you think you should give up, you little bitch?"

I cringed a little as I heard those words and saw Nixe dodge another of Krista's attacks. Nixe was beginning to get way too over-confident and arrogant, especially if she continued calling Krista that again and again.

_' Du weit nicht wo du stehst,_

_You do not know where you stand, '_

"Never! So why don't you stay still and take it like a whore?!"

_' Weit nicht woher du kommst,_

_You do not know from where you come, '_

"Oooh! BURN!"

I couldn't help but to grin as I heard Adam's words ring out even above the sounds of the raging waves.

_' Wohin du gehst!_

_Where you go! '_

I chuckled a little a moment later as I saw Krista flash Adam a thumbs up before continuing her assault on Nixe.

Although a moment later...

_' Du weit nicht was dich treibt,_

_You do not know if you float, '_

"Augh!"

I grimaced as I saw Nixe's cutlass connect with Krista's skin, ripping a shallow gash down her arm.

_' Was am Ende fr dich bleibt!_

_What remains for you at the End! '_

Krista placed the staff back into its holster and looked as if she was trying to cast a spell.

_' Warum bist du so blass,_

_Why are you so pale, '_

I smiled a little for just a moment as I realized what the dim white glow covering her hand actually was.

_' So kalt,_

_So cold, '_

"Hmm? What are you doing now, bitchy?"

And with those words, Nixe began to call forth more water to form a new more powerful wave.

_' So herzlos,_

_So heartless, '_

As the light faded away from Krista's hand, I could see that the skin on her arm had mended back to exactly how it had looked before the blade of the cutlass had sunk into it.

_' Du weit nicht was du tust,_

_You do not know which you do,_

_Weit nicht woran du glaubst._

_Or do not believe in. '_

"Just a little mental preparation, wanker. Now, feel this!"

_' Sag mir wozu und ob_

_Say to me_

_Du mich noch brauchst!?_

_If you still need me!? '_

A moment later, Krista clapped her hands together and I could actually see the—at first—bare outlines of a Firaga and a Blizzaga spell begin to form.

_' Wenn's einfach nicht mehr passt,_

_If any longer it does not simply fit,_

_Wenn du mich wirklich nur noch hasst!_

_If you really hate me only! '_

As the two spells began to mold together, I saw Nixe just stare at Krista for a single moment just as a large geyser of water shot forth from Krista's hands and completely drenched Nixe.

_' Warum bist du noch hier,_

_Why are you still here,_

_Wofr,_

_For what,_

_Was willst du noch von mir? (Was willst du noch?)_

_What you want still from me? (What you want still?) '_

A second clap of the hands and I could have sworn that I felt an electrical charge begin to form in the air around us.

_' Was willst du noch von mir?_

_What do you want still from me? '_

Without any warning whatsoever, Krista pointed both of her hands directly at Nixe, the hands themselves pointed like guns.

_' Siehst du mich?_

_Do you see me?_

_Erkennst du mich?_

_Do you recognize me? '_

From the tips of Krista's fingers came bolts of lightning that knew what their target was and shot straight towards it.

_' Ganz tief in meinem Herz_

_Look deeply into my Heart_

_Ist noch ein Platz fr dich._

_There is still a Place for you. '_

Nixe attempted to dodge, but it was too late for her. The lightning hit her and shocked her to such extremes that I actually had to turn away for just a moment as I heard the screams before they were quickly silenced.

_' Ich suche dich..._

_I look for you..._

_Ich sehne mich..._

_I long myself... '_

I brought my eyes back to Krista and saw her arms fall to her sides, totally exhausted. I wasn't surprised. She had to have been tired after that fight.

_' Nach dem was ich geliebt hab,_

_After which I loved,_

_Doch ich find es nicht..._

_But I do not find it... '_

After a moment though, as I saw her eyes begin to close and mine to widen, I realized something else. As she was falling into sleep, her Blizzard spell was fading away and the last thing that she must have been seeing was the waves engulfing her as the water began to crash back down and recede.

_' Viel zu lange,_

_Too much is enough, '_

"Krista!"

"Krista!"

"Krista!"

_' Viel zu spt!_

_Too much is too late! '_

Three separate cries—one my own and two from Daniel and Adam behind me as I rushed forward into the water, trying to find Krista.

_' Du weit nicht, was du willst..._

_You do not know, what you want... '_

I breathed a sigh of relief after a moment as I caught a glimpse of Krista's body floating along in the water but then...

_No—No—No—No—No!_

The water was carrying Krista's body towards the edge of the rooftop. I made my way towards her as fast as I could and made a single leap at the last second, grabbing hold of her wrist while crashing my body against the edge of the roof. I tried to pull Krista up and had some luck before I felt my body beginning to slide over the edge as well from all the water. I glanced back over my shoulder for just a moment to see Adam and Daniel just staring at us.

"Come on, one of you two! I could really use some help over here and kind of right now if you two wouldn't mind!"

A moment later, I sighed in relief as I felt someone's hands grab my legs and start pulling us back up from the edge before a second pair of hands grabbed my shoulders and continued to haul us up and back onto the roof.

As soon as I knew that we were back safely on the roof, I rolled over on my side for just a moment before slowly getting up as I saw Adam checking Krista's pulse. I saw him sigh in relief as he turned towards me—and I realized a moment later, Daniel who was behind me—and smiled a little.

"She's still got a pulse. Krista's all right."

I nodded as I finally got back to my feet and felt a small smile come to my face as I glanced over at Krista for a moment.

"It'd take more than a little water to do her in anyway. She's way too stubborn. Well..."

I turned around and headed towards the stairwell.

"...I'll let you two take care of her and get her downstairs. I'm going to go and try to track down our vehicles...wherever the hell they could be."


	8. Chapter 08  Back on the Road

"Finally...wait a second...crap..."

I don't know how long that I had been searching but eventually I had found my car. It had been partially smashed against the side of a building so that the passenger side had buckled somewhat and the inside was soaked a little but surprisingly enough, the windows had actually held and not shattered from the waves. I got inside the car, sighing in relief as the car actually started up and turned on the heater to try to dry it out at least some hopefully. Now I just had two more vehicles to try to find.

I listened to the car's motor for just a moment before I headed down the road in search of our two still missing vehicles. They couldn't be too far away, right?

Well eventually, I did stumble upon Adam's. It was actually in the middle of the street and on a closer inspection, actually wasn't that flooded on the inside. I made a mental note of what street Adam's truck was on and was just about to go searching for Daniel's when I saw something that made me just stop and stare.

"What the crap?"

Well, I guess that I wouldn't have to go very far to find Daniel's car. It was frickin _buried_ part of the way into one building's poor balcony. I laughed a little for just a moment at the absurdity of what I was staring at before shaking my head and heading back towards the hotel.

"Well, if nothing else then I guess that Daniel doesn't have to worry about driving the rest of the way to D.C. anymore."

After a little while, I arrived back at the hotel and saw everybody waiting for me outside the building. Daniel was sitting on the ground, leaning back against the building, his eyes tired and overall just looking completely worn out. Adam wasn't in much better condition although he was still standing, well, leaning against the building. And Krista, well, if nothing else she was still alive; she was propped against the wall between the two of them, her head down against her chest but I noticed after a moment that she was definitely still breathing if nothing else.

Adam was the first to notice that I had arrived and waved at me, though the wave itself was a lot slower and more strained that normal.

"Hey Dustin, have any luck?"

I nodded my head as I walked up to them.

"Yeah, my car's still in one piece. And yours is actually in better shape somehow. We'll drive over there as soon as you guys are ready."

I turned towards Daniel for a moment.

"Sorry Daniel, I don't have any good news about your car. I found it, it's just that it's literally buried in a balcony now—no, not on a balcony, _**in **_it."

I heard Daniel mutter something before I kneeled down in front of Krista and noticed that she seemed to look better than she had when I left—when she had been completely drained.

"We gave Krista some of what Daniel called our magical _essence_ or something like that. That's why we're so worn out now—especially Daniel—and why Krista's actually resting easy now."

I nodded my head.

"That's good. So, can we head out?"

Daniel and Adam both gave me a nod.

"Okay then. Adam, you can help get Krista into the back seat and stay there with her and I suppose that Daniel will take the passenger seat."

With that said, I made my way back over to the car and sat back down in the driver's seat. I heard two doors open and then close after a few moments. I saw Adam with Krista in the backseat in the rear view mirror and then glanced over to my right to see Daniel in the passenger seat. I knew that they needed to rest more but we needed to make some more progress as well before today was over. If we could end up making it to Bristol before nightfall then that would put us on the border between Tennessee and Virginia and get two states technically behind us.

I glanced over to my right and saw Daniel give me a look that pretty much meant, 'Are we going any time this century?'

"Sorry, just got caught up in my thoughts for a minute there."

With that, I put the car back into drive and we left the hotel, heading towards where I had found the vehicles earlier. I actually knew where Adam's truck was this time unlike last time and it didn't take us nearly as long to reach it.

"Adam, we're here."

I parked the car beside Adam's truck and watched as he got out and helped Krista into his truck. She was still almost completely out of it and I wasn't surprised at all. It'd probably be a good several hours to an entire day before any of the three of them would be back to their normal selves.

While I was waiting for Adam to start his truck up, I pulled the map back out of the glove compartment and began to try to find the best route to Bristol.

"Bingo."

"What's '_bingo'_?"

"Oh, sorry Daniel. I thought that you had fallen asleep."

"...No, not yet."

"Oh okay. Well, I was just trying to figure out what would be the best route to get to Bristol. It looks like we have two options: travel across I-40 E and then I-81 N or travel across I-24 E and then I-75 N. Since the first one is shorter and more direct, I'm thinking it's probably our best bet for getting there some time soon. It should take us about four and a half hours normally but with our driving we'll probably get there a lot sooner. If at all possible I want to get us there as soon as I could because neither you or Krista is up for driving and I know that Adam won't be able to take a ton of driving for a long period of time either."

I saw Daniel nod his head after a moment—moments before I saw him fall asleep—and I took that as my cue to leave Nashville behind us. I glanced out the side window for a moment and saw Adam motioning for me to go on so that we could get out of here. I nodded and stepped down on the accelerator as we began to head out of Nashville, leaving the flooded and destroyed city behind us.


	9. Chapter 09 The Art of the Keyblade

I leaned over the balcony railing and glanced out across what I could see of Bristol, which wasn't a lot considering how many trees were in the way. It had already been about twelve hours since we left Nashville behind and about seven and a half since we arrived in Bristol. After arriving in Bristol we—well, Adam and I—had looked around for a place that we could stay the night and eventually found the small two-story house whose balcony railing I was currently leaning on. After we had found this house, we put Krista and Daniel in the two bedrooms that we found and Adam called the sofa before his body finally gave out on him. After all that was settled, I tried to catch some sleep myself in the nearest chair and then the floor but no luck. After that, I had made my way out here and well, that's how I ended up out on the balcony staring at the rest of the twin cities.

I sighed a little and noticed a couple of chairs resting against the opposite side of the balcony. I grabbed one of them, sliding it back over to where I had been standing, and sat down in it to rest. I needed to get some sleep eventually but, well, the only problem was that my body wasn't cooperating at the moment and that freakin' sucked.

I leaned back in the chair after a few moments and stared up at the stars for a few minutes. Sylph and Nixe...That makes two members, which means that we still have two more members and then their leader. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose as I thought about what we had gone through so far and what we still had ahead of us.

After a few moments, I felt myself beginning to drift off to sleep finally and decided to welcome it. After all, I had earned some sleep, hadn't I?

"Hey! Wake up freak!"

"Hmm...what's going on?...Something...the matter..."

Yeah, I'm definitely not a morning person. I blinked a few times and opened my eyes to see the sun already above the horizon. I stretched a little and glanced over to my right side to see Daniel standing there. I smiled a little and stood up from the chair, grimacing somewhat at the aches in my joints from sleeping in one of those chairs.

"So, what time is up?"

"About nine o' clock. So, get a good rest?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Good enough, I suppose."

"That's good. So, want some breakfast?"

"Yeah, that'd be great. Been a little while since the last time that I ate."

I saw Daniel leave and I decided to follow him back into the house, wincing with every step from how I had ended up sleeping.

"So Daniel, are all three of you feeling all right after yesterday?"

"Oh, yeah. Just needed a good night's sleep was all."

_Yeah...A good night's sleep and a good portion of the day before._

"I'm glad to hear that."

A few minutes later, we arrived in the kitchen and I have to admit, I nearly cried from how good that food smelled. I grabbed a nearby plate, placing food on it as soon as I got within grabbing distance of everything on the table. After I finished filling the plate after a few moments, I leaned back against the wall and began to eat.

"Dustin, you're finally up?"

I glanced up and saw Krista walk into the kitchen alongside Adam. I nodded my head and finished the rest of the food on the plate, placing the plate itself in the sink.

"Yeah, Daniel got me up."

I opened the refrigerator and began rummaging through it, hoping to find a can of Mountain Dew. I needed a caffeine rush in the morning to actually get going.

"...Dammit..."

"Hmm? Something wrong?"

"Nah, it's nothing, Adam. Just can't find a single Mountain Dew is all."

I did find an unopened bottle of fruit punch Powerade though after a few moments of searching. I grabbed the bottle, closing the refrigerator, and took a quick sip of it before mumbling to myself a little. I glanced around the kitchen for a few moments before I saw a small container marked 'Sugar'. I smiled a little. Exactly what I needed. I grabbed the container and started to pour some of the sugar into the bottle, tasting it between each pouring to see if I had enough yet.

Eventually I set the container down and took a quick sip of the Powerade, my body freezing for a moment as I felt a shiver or tingle or something go through my entire body. I smiled after a moment as the feeling left my body and took a few more sips for good measure before I turned around to see everybody staring at me, probably because of how much sugar I had just put in that drink. Truth be told, I had lost count after the sixth or seventh pouring.

"What?"

"Dustin, you are so going to be a diabetic one of these days if you don't die from a heart attack first."

"Oh come on, it wasn't that much sugar."

I saw Daniel glare at me and I decided to return that glare with another sip of what would probably be the death of me someday.

"All right all right, so I probably put a _little_ more sugar in it than I probably should have."

I took another quick sip before I screwed the cap back on the top of the bottle and slipped it into a pocket of my coat. I glanced at everybody for a few moments before giving Adam a slight grin.

"Hey Adam..."

"Hmm?"

"You know that the next fight is yours, right?"

I could have sworn that I saw his ears prick up a little at those words and definitely saw the grin on his face.

"Okay...So, you do know—or at least now you do. Well, if you actually want to have a chance of winning then come on."

"Hmm? Come where?"

I rolled my eyes but continued to grin a little.

"Outside. We've got to do some training before we meet up with the next poor bastard."

I glanced over at Krista and Daniel for a moment and motioned towards the door.

"You two can come and watch if you want to. By the way, might want to bring some popcorn to eat if you can find some. This could be some long training."

I began to make my way out of the house even as I heard Adam's voice from behind me.

"Hey, one question though: Why do I have to train even though none of you have been training at all?"

I shrugged my shoulders as we reached the front yard.

"Well, I just want to make sure that you can fight well with that keyblade. Yeah yeah, I know. 'Just swing it around like a blunt sword', right? Yeah, that's true but I just want to make sure that you can hold your own."

Adam shrugged his shoulders after a few moments and flashed me a quick grin.

"All right then, Dustin. So, how do you want to do it?"

I stretched a little as I thought about his question.

"Doesn't really matter to me. How about you come at me with whatever feels right as long as it's not a freakin' killing blow and I'll do the same, all right?"

Adam nodded.

"You ready?"

I nodded, drawing Red Queen from its sheath to show that I was ready.

I watched him summon the Kingdom Key to his hand in a flash of light and I motioned for him to come at me when he felt ready. I kept my eyes trained on him and saw him sprint towards me just as I had adjusted my footing a little. I smiled a little at the timing. I watched him do a simple swing as he got within range of my body and I twisted my body just enough to let the blade sail past me with no damage. I countered Adam with a slash to the side that he managed to block at the last moment before retaliating with one of his own swings.

I blocked the strike with Red Queen, flipping the sword backwards, and knocking Adam's legs out from underneath him. I couldn't help but to grin for just a moment as I watched him get back up. I hadn't actually expected that little trip up to actually work but it had, surprisingly enough.

The moment that Adam got his footing back though—he suddenly lunged towards me. I blinked and tried to move but I was one second too late. The key part of the blade sliced through my left cheek before he pulled the keyblade back and glanced at me in what rather looked like shock for a moment.

I placed my hand against the sliced cheek to slow the bleeding while I waved off his concern.

"It's just a scratch."

I muttered a Cure spell to myself and felt the bleeding stop and the wound begin to mend back up. I heard some clapping behind us after a moment or so and glanced over my shoulder to see Krista and Daniel actually clapping for what Adam had managed to do.

I turned back towards Adam and grinned a little as I sheathed Red Queen.

"Well, if nothing else, then I think that you've got the hang of using that keyblade as a weapon and I'm going to take a break. How about in the meantime you train with Krista? You can work with her on using that keyblade as a conduit for magic and see how well you can do with some spells."

I made my way over towards the chairs that Krista and Daniel had dragged outside with them, passing Krista on the way and giving her a slight smile, and grabbed the nearest chair beside Daniel.

"Well, that was definitely the quickest _**training**_ that I've ever seen in real life or fiction."

I shrugged my shoulders at the hint of sarcasm but didn't say a word.

"So, did you just let him cut you or did he actually do it all on his own?"

I shrugged my shoulders again but not without voicing a response this time.

"I let my guard down for a moment but it was all him. But damn...I didn't think a keyblade would hurt that much. It's a blunt weapon...or at least that particular keyblade is. It shouldn't be able to cut like that, right?"

Now it was time for Daniel to shrug his shoulders.

"The hell should I know. The keyblade's a magical weapon so let's just agree that it's magic that allows it to cut through stuff and leave it at that, all right?"

I leaned back, brought the sugar-overdosed bottle of Powerade back out of my pocket, and took a sip of it as I listened to Daniel's words.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Let's just leave it at that. Doesn't really matter in the long run anyway."

A few moments later, well—

"Ahh! Watch it you two!"

—I nearly got hit in the face by a stray Fire spell that just ended up barely singing my hair as I slid down in the chair to avoid it. Note to self: When Adam and Krista are practicing magic, for god's sake, keep your eyes on _**them**_.

I gave Daniel a quick glare for a moment as I heard him chuckling a little at what had nearly happened.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up."

I leaned back in the chair and tried to relax again, except with one difference this time; constantly making sure that I could always keep my eye on Krista and Adam.

After a little while, I saw the two of them begin making their way back towards us and I couldn't help but clap a little for both of them.

"Hey, good job both of you. I have to say, Adam, you're actually learning pretty quickly."

I saw Adam grin a little at that and I couldn't help but to smile back a little as I jerked my thumb towards our vehicles.

"We'll train some more later, for now let's be on our way. We've still got a lot of ground to cover before we get to D.C. We still have to make our way to Lexington and then to Richmond before we get to Washington D.C."

I saw three nods before I nodded as well and we climbed into our vehicles—two to each—and left Bristol behind us.


	10. Chapter 10 Splitting of the Earth

It had taken us the rest of the morning and the better part of the evening but eventually we made it to Lexington only to be confronted with—

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!"

—the remains of the city. The entire city of Lexington, Virginia was nothing but rubble. It was almost as if a huge earthquake had had just suddenly appeared and brought everything crashing down to the ground below. The worst part of all was that the ground was so _shattered_ and broken up that there was no way that our vehicles would be able to cross all the way through the city.

I stepped out of my car and glanced around, trying and failing to find a route that we could take through the city. I sighed and turned back to face everybody.

"I guess that we're going to have to go back a few miles and try to find a different—"

I stopped right there as I saw that they were watching something past me. I sighed as I turned around. Somehow, I knew what it would be.

"So you four are the ones that have been standing against us."

I brought my eyes up to stare at the man watching us from the top of a pile of wreckage. The man must have been in his late 30s with dark brown hair down to his chin and eyes just like the others had.

The man made his way down in front of us and I could feel the earth seem to _shiver_ a little underneath us.

"I cannot allow you to continue to interfere. Your actions have cost us the lives of two members and that is unacceptable. Now, which of you will step forward to confront me?"

I saw Adam glance towards me and I nodded as he made his way towards the man.

"So you will be the first?"

"We all agreed on it and I've been waiting for my turn to come up."

I saw Adam glance back towards me and I understood exactly what he wanted me to do. I made my way back towards my car and turned the sound system up just as the next song began to play.

_' I'm just a step away_

_I'm just a breath away '_

"As you wish then. Now, it is time for you to face me, Uriel, the elemental master of Earth."

_' Losin' my faith today_

_Fallin' off the edge today '_

"Well, bring it on!"

In the blink of an eye, Adam's keyblade was in his hand and he was already bracing his legs as he aimed the first strike of the fight towards Uriel's side. As Adam's attack was blocked, I felt my jaw literally drop for a moment.

"What the _**fuck**_ is that?"

I couldn't believe my eyes at first. Uriel had just yanked out of nowhere a frickin' battle-axe as tall as he was and used it to block Adam's strike! What the crap?

"It is my weapon of choice."

_' I am just a man_

_Not superhuman '_

Uriel pushed Adam away and—faster than I believed was possible—swung the axe at Adam's head, barely missing him as he ducked out of the way.

_' I'm not superhuman_

_Someone save me from the hate '_

Adam grinned and swung the keyblade out again, this time managing to catch Uriel across his right thigh and drawing a trickle of blood.

_' It's just another war '_

"Too slow!"

_' Just another family torn '_

Uriel swung his axe back around at Adam again—the damage to his thigh not managing to even draw a grimace from him.

I watched as Adam simply grinned again and twisted his body out of the way of the axe once again. As long as he didn't end up getting too over-confident he'd probably do fine.

"Ah come on, this is too easy!"

_' Falling from my faith today_

_Just a step from the edge_

_Just another day in the world we live_

_I need a hero to save me now_

_I need a hero to save my life '_

I sighed. Damn Adam...just had to go and jinx his chances.

"So, this is not enough for you?"

Not even a moment later, the ground under our feet _split_ and the last thing that I saw was what was left of the entire city of Lexington beginning to sink into the crevices that had appeared as Adam realized what was happening.

"That's it! Fuck with me, that's fine, but fuck with MY FRIENDS, AND I WILL END YOU!"

_' I've gotta fight today_

_To live another day_

_Speakin' my mind today_

_My voice will be heard today_

_I've gotta make a stand_

_But I am just a man_

_I'm not superhuman '_

"Shit..."

I mumbled several Cure spells under my breath as I tried to stand up and grimaced at the pain. I'd managed to slow my fall but it still felt like I'd been run over by an eighteen-wheeler. I glanced up above my head and mumbled a curse to myself as I realized that I could just barely see the top of the crevice. I did smile a little though as I heard a single scream that sounded like it had come from that guy Uriel.

"Keep at it, Adam. Sounds like you're doing a great job...Now, I've just got to try to get back up there."

It took me forever, but I eventually managed to quite literally _claw_ my way back up to the surface only to notice—

' _I need a hero_

_Who's gonna fight for the weak_

_Who's gonna make 'em believe '_

"Ah, come on!"

—that I had missed the rest of the fight. Uriel was on the ground, already dead and Adam was letting Krista patch him up with a few Cure spells while he laughed and made gestures—presumably related to how he won.

' _I need a hero_

_I need a hero_

_A hero's gonna save me just in time '_

"Oh, hey freak. Finally decide to join us again?"

"Oh yeah, just had to climb what felt like the side of a mountain all by myself. Thanks a lot for the assistance!"

With that said, I took a deep breath before continuing.

"Now, come on. Tell me what happened. How'd you win, Adam? How—the hell?"

I stopped right there as I glanced around and noticed that most of the damage done to the surrounding area had been leveled off during the fight—pretty much meaning that we now had a straight shot through the city.

"Yeah, let's just say that Adam managed to piss that guy off enough that he started causing earthquakes all over the city to try to kill him and when that didn't work, he tried to topple every last building in the whole city—"

"—and that didn't work either, right?"

"What do you think, freak?"

"Haha, Daniel. Well, let's get going. We've still got about two and a half hours until we get to Richmond."


	11. Chapter 11 Richmond on Fire

"Finally!"

I couldn't believe our luck: Richmond was actually still in one piece…and surprisingly quiet.

"Freak, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

I nodded as I parked the car in front of the Virginia State Capitol building and motioned out the window for Adam and Krista to pull in next to us.

"Yeah, it's way too quiet."

"So, think that one of those guys is here somewhere?"

"If I had to guess: yeah, proba—"

"Hey fuckers, what's taking you so long!?"

I glanced around at _that_ and eventually saw another one of those Order of Light members _strolling_ towards us from down the street.

"Aw hell."

"So, since this is one-on-one, how about you, cowboy?"

The guy asked—no, _told_—as he pointed at me just as we got out of our vehicles. He couldn't have been any older than his late twenties with auburn hair and those same _creepy_ eyes that all the others had.

"I've been watching you punks since you took out Sylph. And I have to admit, frankly I'm impressed. I mean, you guys tore into each of them. You skewered Sylph like he was a piece of meat. You made Nixe scream like the little bitch she was and literally cooked her alive…and don't even get me started on what your little Keyblade Master did to Uriel. It's been a long time since I've seen such a wonderful display of violence."

I blinked a few times, trying to make sure that I was hearing this guy right before whispering to Daniel.

"And you call me a freak."

"Well, let's not waste any more time. Start playing your music and come at me, cowboy."

I just stood there staring at him for a moment before I felt myself grin a little as I realized that I'd be the one to take this sadist down. I leaned into my car and pressed play—turning the volume all the way up.

' _Bar Fight, week night_

_You don't look right, poor mite, no bite '_

"Hey, where's your weapon, anyway?"

' _Wake up, first light_

_This is what we __live and what we see... '_

I swear that when Adam asked that, the guy just grinned and held his hands out in front of him—both hands catching on frickin' fire as the fire formed into a pair of armored gauntlets.

"Right here, bitches."

"Hey, ready to dance?"

He gave me a kind of twisted look.

"Of course. Let's see what you can do against me: Brenton, the elemental master of Fire."

I just grinned a little as I decided to mock him.

"Well, come on then, _bitch_."

' _Dance club, strip light_

_Get drunk, no sight, watch it ignite_

_Live it up tonight_

_Nobody really cares, but it's not for me... '_

I saw him twitch just a little at that and took my chance—drawing and firing my pistol in an instant and watching as he just walked towards me—

"Oh, come on!"

—while each bullet that I fired literally began melting in mid-air as it got within a foot of him. I holstered the pistol and drew Red Queen instead as I decided to test something. I kicked off with my right foot as I rushed him—muttering a NulBlaze spell under my breath—and tried to slash him only to stop and start screaming as my hands _blistered_ from the sheer heat emanating from him.

"Seriously, a NulBlaze spell? You thought that would protect you? Wrong!"

"Argh!"

' _So raise your glass my son_

_We're telling everyone '_

I tried to say something—anything—but I couldn't as he wrapped his hands around my throat and just let the heat cook me. I tried to fight against the pain, before a single thought popped into my mind: Blizzara. A moment later, a layer of ice began to form over Brenton's body and I managed to break free from his grip—muttering Cure spells over and over to heal the damage to my hands and throat.

"Shit, that's cold!"

I grinned just a little as my voice began to come back—even if it was raspy as everything.

"That's…what you get."

' _Living in everyday combat_

_Day to day commuter riot_

_Shot down, dancing in the DMZ_

_(And we) '_

I was back on him before he could even finish thawing—muttering a Blizzara spell and encasing Red Queen along with my hands inside it. I swung for his side and watched as my spell began to thaw the instant that it came into contact with his flame shield—but the spell held out. The sword dug into his side and he let out a yelp as it carved deep. I wrenched it free just as the last of my spell wore off and barely managed to pull away in time—only receiving some minor burns on my hands.

"How'd you like that?"

"Whoo!"

"Go Dustin!"

' _Walk on, streets on fire_

_Caged in with razor wire_

_Shot down, living in the DMZ_

_Living in the DMZ '_

"Guess that I don't have to hold back now. I'm really going to—"

"Augh!"

"—enjoy this!"

I stumbled backwards—nearly dropping my sword—as I felt the scorching hot gauntlet dig into my stomach. He'd managed to move so fast that I hadn't even seen it coming. I got my balance back just in time to receive a bone-cracking right hook to the face followed by a rib-cracking punch to the chest. I went down screaming—mentally trying to conjure up as many Cure spells as I could manage—and barely managed to roll to the side in time to avoid another punch. I managed to stand back up after a moment and jabbed my sword forward—muttering another Blizzara spell just as he went for a kill strike and managed to skewer his right shoulder—

' _Time's up, let's go, all that we know_

_Release tension, you're my hero_

_After dark, terror in the town high street '_

—only to smell my hands already smoking as I quickly wrenched the sword out of his shoulder and muttered another Cure spell. I took a few shaky steps back and muttered another Blizzara spell—my vision suddenly beginning to blur as I did so—only to notice that it didn't work. Shit!

"Heh, looks like you're all burned out."

I _really_ didn't like the grin on his face.

' _And I know you can't stop full throttle_

_Get involved mate, broken bottle_

_(Invasion) Panic on the cold concrete '_

He took a few slow steps towards me before sending a wave of heat towards me that I barely managed to jump out of the way of—watching with wide eyes as it melted part of the Capitol building behind us. I glanced back at him and decided to do one thing that I hadn't planned on.

' _So raise your glass my son_

_We're telling everyone... '_

I ran for the front door of the building and rushed inside as quick as I could—trying to get away from the front door. Somehow, I knew instinctively that even if this guy was a sadist…he still wouldn't hurt Krista, Adam, or Daniel unless they either intervened or he managed to kill me. Whichever came first.

"Come out; come out, wherever you are."

' _Living in everyday combat_

_Day to day, commuter riot_

_Shot down, dancing in the DMZ '_

I held my breath as I heard his footsteps approach and swung as hard as I could—catching him in his bad shoulder and cleaving a deep gash even as the flesh on my hands began to boil.

"Is that all?"

I coughed as his fist dug into my chest and felt my insides beginning to smoke as he suddenly kicked me to the far side of the room. I felt something in my lower back snap as I hit the far wall but I managed to get back to my feet regardless.

"You're quite a little spit-fuck, aren't you? Too stubborn to die. My favorite kind!"

' _(And we)_

_Walk on, streets on fire_

_Caged in with razor wire_

_Shot down, living in the DMZ '_

He came at me again, but this time I managed to dodge his punch and returned with a swing of Red Queen that busted the gauntlet on his left arm and took off a few of his fingers too. Even with my hands burning and the Queen herself smoking, I swung again—opening up a gash in his lower abdomen and watching as he suddenly became conscious of the fact that that _his_ own guts were leaking out. I took my chance and went in for my kill strike—only to miss as he dodged and quickly cauterized the gash on his abdomen.

He came back at me—cracking another rib with one well-placed punch—while I tried to ignore both the pain from the punches and the fact I was literally being burned alive by his flame shield.

' _Living in the DMZ_

_Living in the DMZ_

_Living in the DMZ '_

I felt his punches slow for just a moment and swung my own punch—nearly yelping with relief instead of pain as it connected with his jaw and dazed him. I felt myself nearly grin a little as I gripped my sword with both hands once again and swung as hard as I could—managing to hit the built-in Exceed system perfectly—

' _Right... Yeah..._

_Let's go '_

—and hitting him right in the neck and managing to cleave it about half-way down his chest. I sighed with relief as I felt the heat beginning to fade away and nearly collapsed to the floor in exhaustion.

"Hah…haha…I actually did it."

After a few moments, I finally managed to dredge up enough strength to stumble back towards the front door and into the congratulating arms of, well, everybody.

' _Living in everyday combat_

_Day to day, commuter riot '_

"Damn freak, you look like hell."

' _Shot down, dancing in the DMZ_

_(And we) '_

"And I feel like it…but…I managed to win."

' _Walk on, streets on fire_

_Caged in with razor wire '_

"Dustin, man, are you all right?"

' _Shot down, living in the DMZ_

_Living in the DMZ '_

"Yeah, I'm all right. Just…a little crispier than I'm used to."

' _Oh yeah, oh yeah_

_Living in the DMZ '_

"Dustin, you're burnt everywhere and—"

' _Oh right, oh yeah_

_Living in the DMZ '_

"Krista, I'm okay…though, I could stand to have a couple of Cure spells used on me if you don't mind."

' _Don't think you're safe 'cause it's not over..._

_Don't think you're safe 'cause it's not over... '_

"No problem! Just give me a second."

' _Don't think you're safe 'cause it's not over..._

_Don't think you're safe 'cause it's not over... '_

"Thanks…I'll just faint now, okay? Okay…"

' _Don't think you're safe 'cause it's not over..._

_Don't think you're safe 'cause it's not over... '_


	12. Chapter 12 Washington DC

We had stayed in Richmond for a day or so while I recovered from the injuries that bastard Brenton gave me. Even with Cure spells, I was still out of it for what seemed like forever.

"Ow—damn it."

"Still sore, freak?"

"Uhh, let's see Daniel…I was nearly burned alive and got what felt like half the bones in my body broke so yes, I'm still sore," I replied as I parked the car and climbed out—my eyes catching sight of the Washington Monument in the distance.

' _It's not like I'm walking alone into the valley of the shadow of death_

_Stand beside one another, 'cause it ain't over yet '_

"The hell?"

"It's the end of the line, freak. Just thought that we could use some appropriate music like Pillar's Frontline."

' _I'd be willing to bet that if we don't back down_

_You and I will be the ones that are holding the Crown in the end '_

"Daniel's right. There's only one guy left and—"

I glanced over at Adam as I heard him stop and felt a smile come to my face as I saw his keyblade suddenly appear in his hand and begin glowing before Adam managed to dismiss it.

"Looks like the keyhole really is here."

' _When it's over, we can say, "Well done" '_

_But not yet, 'cause it's only begun '_

"So, I guess this means that we're nearly done with all of this."

I sighed a little as I heard Krista's words and figured out what she really meant by them. If we sealed the keyhole, we might lose all of this and go back to the boring lives that we had before. On the other hand…

' _So, pick up, and follow me, we're the only ones_

_To fight this thing, until we've won '_

"Krista, we may be just about through with this journey but think about this: maybe sealing the keyhole will only keep Earth safe from the Heartless and people like the Order. Who knows, we might have to leave here and go journeying across the stars just like in Kingdom Hearts or II."

"Dustin's right. Just think about the other worlds that we could all go to. I mean, how awesome is that!?"

' _We drive on and don't look back_

_It doesn't mean we can't learn from our past '_

Right at that moment, a dark portal appeared only a few feet away from us and I felt a grin come to my face.

"Krista, Adam, Daniel—"

' _All the things that we might've done wrong_

_We could've been doing this all along '_

"—I think that the leader of those bastards just sent us an invitation. So, ready to take it?"

The answer of everyone adjusting their weapons was all that I needed as I led the way towards the portal and spoke the first line of the chorus—listening as everyone joined in after a moment.

"Everybody, with your fists raised high!"

"Let me hear your battle cry tonight!"

"Stand beside, or step aside!"

"We're on the frontline!"

With that, we stepped through the portal and on towards what would be the final battle of our journey.

"Whoa…"

I'm not afraid to admit that I was impressed…and nearly blinded. Everything around us was either pure white or made out of crystals. Besides several pillars and a door at the opposite end of the room, the only other things that I noticed was a thin mist that covered the ground—making it nearly impossible for any of us to see our feet—and a chilly wind that blew throughout the room.

"So, um, did anyone else just feel a chill go down their spine?"

I glanced at Daniel and Krista for a moment before turning back to Adam.

"None of us did."

"Got a bad feeling about this, Adam?"

I watched him shake his head before answering Krista's question.

"It was probably nothing…and besides, it's not exactly warm in here anyway."

I saw him wave the concern away before we made our way towards the door—opening it as soon as we reached it only to see—

"Oh, come on!"

—a crystal staircase that seemed to spiral towards the heavens themselves. I sighed after a moment though as we began to ascend the steps one at a time.

After we had reached the top of the staircase, Adam and I opened the huge crystal double doors for Daniel and Krista before following them inside. The interior of the room was just as bright as the room from before, but there were only two pillars…and a frickin' _throne_ raised in a dais. There was a man sitting on the throne with white hair, a frickin' _goatee, _and wearing the same coat as the rest of the Order. He rose to his feet after a moment and I gulped a little as I realized that he must have been about seven feet tall. He leveled those _creepy_ eyes at us and seemed to smile just a little.

"Welcome to my sanctuary, I have been expecting you."

There was something about the way that this guy spoke that sent shivers down my spine. He was way too calm, especially considering what had happened to all those who followed him. I did what I could to keep my voice even as I took a single step forward.

"Then, you know why we're here."

"And that we won't let you just kill us to fulfill your plan of cleansing impure hearts."

I smiled a little as I heard Daniel's voice and saw all three of them take a step forward as well.

"I know. There are always ones like you. Ones who think they can deny their destined fates…but, I—Charon, have defeated them all. Those you killed to reach me—they were not the original members of the Order. I have had many members down through the years—each one dead at the hands of a warrior. I myself though have never been bested by any who managed to reach this sanctuary."

With that said, he took a few steps towards us and summoned a pair of lances to his hands—another ten appearing out of midair all around him.

"But, if you will not submit, then come at me, saviors of Earth! If you truly wish to live, then show me! Show me that you are capable of determining your own fates!"

He came at us and in less than an instant; we were caught in the middle of a whirlwind of lances. I parried a strike from him and ducked out of the way of a lance as it zoomed past me. I grinned just a little as I grabbed for my pistol and fired off a quick shot—grazing his cheek—before the same lance from earlier pierced through my lower chest and rejoined its brethren in the whirlwind that surrounded us.

"Argh!"

"I got it!"

After a moment, I managed to get back to my feet and gave Krista a quick thumbs up as I watched her summon some kind of barrier spell to stop several of the lances from reaching her. Following that, she gave a quick charge towards Charon only to stop and hold her ground as she was forced to hold off three of the lances at the same time. I turned my attention back to Charon only to be forced to defend myself from another lance—managing to knock it away after a few moments.

"Come on Dustin! Quit messing around with that lance and get back in the fight!"

"Look who's talking, Adam!"

While we were fighting, Adam was off to the side, casting a Cure spell on a gash on his leg.

"Hey bastard, look above you!"

I grinned and looked up just in time to see Daniel falling from the roof and directly towards Charon. Daniel's spear came down with enough force to shatter the lance that Charon had tried to defend himself with and cut a deep gash into his chest. Charon only seemed to smile a little just before another lance appeared and skewered Daniel—tossing him to the ground.

I decided to take my shot then and charged Charon while he was still focused on Daniel—trying to keep my mind focused on the spells and abilities that I would need. With a quick thought of the words: Abyssal Blade, I felt my very _health_ begin to drain from my body and into Red Queen as I reached Charon and swung—the _motion_ itself being enough to shatter the nearest lances as I hit him and watched as he flew through the air. After a few moments, he finally collided with his throne—completely destroying it—before managing to get back to his feet.

"Hmm...so, this is all that each of you is capable of? Just class abilities? A Dark Knight? A Paladin? A Dragoon? And a supposed _Keyblade Master_? I'm greatly disappointed, but I will offer you something in your last moments then: a last glimpse of your world."

I watched as his wounds began to heal and began to realize that he had only been playing with us.

"Oh shit…"

I couldn't have agreed more with Krista as I saw the room begin to fade all around us. Above us was the evening sky and below us was the…the…

"Holy crap, I can see my house from here!"

I just stared at Adam for a moment for what he said before blinking and—

"The hell?"

—realizing that we were now back in D.C. I could even see our cars in the distance and—

' _Hear the sound of swords fulfill the night_

_Feel the winds of death on your skin '_

—yep, 'Battle Song' by Ensiferum. I could actually feel myself smiling just a little as I rolled my shoulders and glanced around to see everybody doing the same before—

"Shit!"

' _See the arrows fly, flaming in the sky_

_Hear the screams of men, as they die '_

—I felt two lances penetrate both of my shoulders and heard everybody else start screaming as well. I managed to tear them out after a moment and mutter several Cure spells only to feel myself go flying through the air as I felt Charon's fist collide with my ribs. I felt myself come to a stop after a couple of seconds—the driver's side of a van catching me.

"Damn…damn…damn…"

I continued muttering to myself as I shook my head and shakily managed to get back to my feet—even with one leg feeling like it was broken—just as—

"SHIIIIIIT!"

' _We won this battle wit might and fearless hearts_

_We came and we fulfilled our prophecy '_

—I saw Daniel go flying past me and eventually landing in the Reflecting Pool. Right then, I heard something _snap_ and glanced over to see Krista holding her now-broken staff in front of her and Charon turning his attention to Adam—who was currently trying to get Krista's attention but—

"Bitch broke my staff…"

"Krista, it's not big of a deal, but I could really use some he—"

"BITCH BROKE MAH STAFF!"

Even before I had time to blink, Krista was already on Charon—a kick to the side, a punch to his jaw, a fucking _headbutt_ to his face. Damn, note to self: never break anything of Krista's. In the end, Charon only managed to get Krista off of him by tossing her off and nailing her to the side of a building with one of his few remaining lances. With that done, he frickin _floated_ out of the way of Adam's retaliatory strike for Krista and hovered just a few feet above the top of the Washington Monument. I saw the look on Adam's face and realized that he truly was ticked off—which was something that was surprisingly rare.

' _So now, we shall march back towards our kingdom_

_With heads up high and glimmering eyes_

_We returned with our glory '_

"That's it! Fuck with me, that's fine, but fuck with MY FRIENDS, AND I WILL END YOU!"

With that, I saw him charge straight for the Washington Monument…and suddenly—

"You have got to be kidding me!"

—started running up the frickin' side of the monument without stopping. After a moment, I realized that he must have concentrated an Aero spell to his feet and saw him leap off of the monument straight towards Charon. I watched as he managed to dodge each and every one of Charon's remaining lances before landing an aerial combo on him and finishing off with a Ragnarok—each individual slash tearing at Charon's body with the laser burst at the end finally managing to kill him. I watched as Adam fell back to the ground—cushioning his landing with another Aero spell—before heading over to help Krista while I looked up at the setting sun.

' _Silence now falls upon this blood red field_

_Vultures feasting with the flesh of dead bodies_

_This is a great moment for all of us_

_But now it's time to head back home victorious '_


	13. Epilogue

I couldn't help the grin on my face. **We. Had. Won.** Those three words continued to echo in my mind as I realized exactly what we had just accomplished. We had defeated Charon and his entire Order of Light. I raised my head to the darkening sky and listened to my own whispered words.

"We have done the impossible and that makes us mighty."

Now all we had to do was find the keyhole and end this journey. I turned around and caught sight of a still soaking wet Daniel, who seemed to be thinking about everything we had just accomplished.

"Hey! You coming?"

"Yeah..."

I felt my hand twitch at that single word but I didn't know why right then. I watched Adam and Krista—who had managed to get the lance out of her body and heal herself—heading towards Adam's truck with her poking fun at him.

"So Adam, 'fuck with me, that's fine'? Now where have I heard that before..."

I laughed a little as I saw him defending his 'choice of words' to Krista and smiled a little as I realized that we were still the same people that we had been before this started. I watched them for another moment and figured that they were probably going to go looking for the keyhole. I thought about following them, but instead I decided that I wanted to walk around for a few more minutes—just to relax—before bringing all of this to an end. After a moment though, I heard Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace start playing on the CD player but I pushed the lyrics away. I didn't want to think about _those_ lyrics while I was trying to relax.

After a few moments though, I heard something that chilled me to the bone.

"Hey Adam, you forgot to leave the battlefield something for our _hard work._"

"What? What did I forget?"

I turned around and began to heard back towards them as fast as my feet could carry me, somehow knowing that something bad was about to happen.

"You forgot to die."

I stopped in my tracks right then as I heard Krista's scream and saw Daniel's spear thrust into Adam's chest—his blood splashing across Daniel's face.

"Dan—Daniel! Why?! He's—Adam's the—Augh!" I could hear Krista's shocked words but I couldn't move. "He was the Keyblade Master! Why the hell did you do that, you fucking bastard?!"

This couldn't be happening, could it? But then, just like Krista said, why the _hell_ did he do it?

"It was necessary. One must be sacrificed for the good of all. Now, will you join me for a painless death, or will I have to chase you around, dear cousin?"

I saw _him_ turn his attention to me for a quick moment before bringing his attention back to Krista. I couldn't believe it...After everything that had happened...This had to be a dream. Sad to say, I was too shocked to even move an inch.

"Give me a minute..."

"Your sixty seconds begin now."

Krista got down beside Adam and began to prepare a Cure spell for his injury.

"Fifty seconds remain."

"Shut the fuck up, dammit."

I winced a little as I heard Krista's cry and was just about to finally move when a new voice interrupted.

"Krista, that wasn't really nice, y'know."

"A...Adam? Oh my god, Adam, please! Just let me finish healing you, and then, you'll need to find somewhere to—"

"I'm not going to make it."

"No, you will. I promise... just..."

I just _**stood**_ there and watched as she finally broke down—resting her forehead against him and crying.

"Thirty seconds."

"Fuck off Daniel, we're having a damned emotional moment over here."

Of all the things to do, I felt myself chuckle for a quick moment at those words as I finally forced myself to head towards them. This wasn't the time for standing around and looking like a _fucking_ idiot or for shits and giggles.

As I made my way closer, I watched Adam draw his last breath and Krista's breakdown take a turn for the worse. I saw her hit the ground, acting as if somebody had put invisible bindings on her.

_Oh, a Bind spell. Should have seen that coming._

Not even a moment later, _he_ began to raise his spear to kill her when I finally made my intervention—his attack stopped with nothing but centimeters to go. I could see a slight hint of surprise in his eyes for just a moment as he stared into mine.

"So it has come down to this, has it?"

"Looks that way."

I watched Krista suddenly go mute as well at the same time as an inky darkness covered her eyes. I figured that it was a Silence spell and a Blind spell to further torment her. I decided to counter-act his spells and wordlessly cast Esuna to free Krista from her torment and then a Sleep spell. Even if she wanted to see Daniel's blood spilled like Adam's, she didn't _need_ to see it being spilled. This would be only between the two of us. There would be no spectators. This fight—this dance of death—would be ours and ours alone.

"Well, I guess we better do this right, now hadn't we?"

"I suppose so."

We parted our weapons and I slowly began to walk towards my car. I knew that this would be bloody. Neither one of us had any reason in the universe to hold back. This truly would be a duel to the death. A dirty, no-holds-barred-beat-down between blood brothers. A battle of blades and sorcery with no guns. This was not something that should be settled with a lucky bullet. This is where one of our stories would end and the other would end soon after thanks to our current situation. I leaned in through the driver's window and tapped a button on the CD player before heading back to Daniel—neither my eyes nor the rest of my body betraying any hint of emotion. I didn't even flinch as I heard the opening of Disturbed's Hell begin playing for us.

_' Leave me tonight_

_When the warning said, leave a shudder upon you_

_Running from all that you've feared in your life_

_Soul of the night_

_Will a son mislead, paint a horror upon you_

_Marking the moment, displaying in my_

_Ghost of a life! '_

"All right then, let's start."

"Let's."

_' That I can't condone the way you left me_

_Out in the open, to leave me to die_

_So how can I_

_Forget the way you led me through the path into Heaven,_

_To leave me behind! '_

Then the battle began. I kicked off with my right foot, aiming a quick slash towards Daniel's side, but was stopped as I felt a Fire spell collide with my chest and I was sent flying back several feet. I glanced up to see him charging me and then decided to hell with it. I ducked under his spear strike and sliced into the armor at his side with Red Queen, the Exceed system maxing out as I timed the revving of the handle and heavily damaging the armor before Daniel kicked me away.

There was a growl in Daniel's voice as I recovered from the kick and I couldn't help but to grin just a little. I leaned out of the way of his follow-up attack and retaliated with a quick Blizzard, freezing the armor at his side before I felt the wind around us grow stronger.

_Oh shit. I forgot about Aero._

' _Now I can't stay behind_

_Save me, from wreaking my vengeance_

_Upon you, to killing more than I can tell_

_Burning now, I bring you Hell! '_

Daniel had been concentrating an Aero spell to his feet while I was casting my Blizzard spell and now had the advantage of the sky.

_All right then. He wants to play in the air? I'll just have to bring him down then._

I cast Thundara and nearly laughed as Daniel dodged one bolt only for the second bolt to be drawn towards his armor. I quickly cast Temper—feeling my strength increase—as Daniel tried to recover right before—

_' Free me tonight, as the animal kings breathe their terror upon you_

_Caught in the moment, engaging in my '_

"Augh!"

_' Blood-lust tonight, now I can't control my venom's flow '_

—I went down on one knee as I felt my health and energy being drained and given to Daniel. I forced myself back up as the spell wore off after a second only to see Daniel in front of me, his spear held at ready, and—

_' Get back from me demon, or be exorcised! '_

—A blood-curdling scream from me as the spear pierced my right side, followed by a second scream as the tip was wrenched free from my flesh. I muttered a Haste spell to myself as I tried to regain some kind of advantage and struck out across his armor—the damn armor only buckling under the blows and not even cracking. I then decided to go for one blow that might just end this damn fight. I leaped up above Daniel—a quick Aero spell enhancing the leap—and brought Red Queen straight down, aiming for his _fucking_ head. Just as I was about to reach his skull though—

"_**Shit!**_"

_' Now I can't stay behind_

_Save me, from wreaking my vengeance_

_Upon you, to killing more than I can tell_

_Burning now, I bring you Hell! '_

—I screamed as Daniel anticipated my attack and impaled my right leg with his spear and stopping my attack short. The spear cut clean up through the side from the ankle all the way to the frickin knee. I fell to the ground, trying to block out the pain—my mind too clouded to even consider a quick Cure spell.

"Hey freak, come on and get up. It can't end like this. It's not right to end it with you on the ground, crying out in pain. Now, get up!"

_' All my emotion and all my integrity_

_All that you've taken from me '_

"Fuck you, Daniel...But, you're...right."

_' All my emotion and all my integrity_

_All that you've taken from me '_

I forced the pain back as much as I could and struggled to my feet. He was right. It couldn't end like this. I readied Red Queen as I noticed the still frozen armor on Daniel's side and felt myself grin a little. Maybe I could end this battle in one more strike.

_' Now I can't stay behind_

_Save me, from wreaking my vengeance_

_Upon you, to killing more than I can tell_

_Soul of the night, I know '_

I aimed a strike at Daniel's shoulder—changing my footing after a moment—and ended up landing a hit against his side. I grinned as the frozen armor shattered and Red Queen bit deep into his side, the Exceed system maxing out for full damage, even as I felt his spear slice clean across my chest—a horizontal gash straight across my rib cage.

_' Now I can't stay behind_

_Save me, from wreaking my vengeance '_

We both fell—the pain being too much to take...but I was the first to recover. I slowly raised my sword and thought about closing my eyes but decided to leave them open. I took one last look at our _hero_ gone renegade before I brought the sword down only to see his gem belt begin shining brightly.

_' Upon you, to killing more than I can tell_

_Burning now, I bring you Hell! '_

* * *

As I saw his gem belt shine, I felt my strike stop in mid-air and stared at Daniel for just a moment as I tried to figure out what happened before I lowered my sword and took a single step back. After a moment, I breathed a sigh of relief even though my eyes never for a moment left his, just in case...though my ears pricked up a little as they heard the first notes of the next song on the CD.

"...Daniel."

_' I know, I know I've let you down_

_I've been a fool to myself_

_I thought that I could_

_Live for no one else '_

"Dustin..."

_' But now through all the hurt and pain_

_It's time for me to respect_

_The ones you love_

_Mean more than anything '_

Even though they were only our names, I believe that there was a moment of understanding between us just then. I sheathed Red Queen and only then, did I turn my back and begin to walk away without another word.

_' So with sadness in my heart_

_I feel the best thing I could do_

_Is end it all_

_And leave forever '_

As I walked away, I passed beside Krista and gave her a knowing look to show that I realized the kind of situation that we were in now. After a moment she began to walk towards Daniel with a pissed-off look that I had only seen a very few times before now.

_' What's done is done, it feels so bad_

_What once was happy now is sad_

_I'll never love again_

_My world is ending '_

Eventually I made my way to the famous Reflecting Pool of D.C. and sat down on the edge, allowing my sore feet and legs a moment of rest in the cool waters. I knew that I should probably go back to make sure that Krista didn't end up killing Daniel, but I couldn't make myself care enough to. It's not as if it would have made any difference either way; our Keyblade Master was gone along with our only chance to turn back time. And on a different note, for some odd reason, I couldn't feel any anger nor hatred towards Daniel for what he had done. Maybe it had something to do with the kind of twisted bond that we had or maybe not...It didn't really matter either way, we were still screwed because of what he had done. I raised my head up a little and finally realized that night was already here for the first time since arriving at the Reflecting Pool.

_' I wish that I could turn back time_

_'Cause now the guilt is all mine_

_Can't live without the trust from those you love._

_I know we can't forget the past_

_You can't forget love and pride_

_Because of that it's killing me inside '_

"_**...Keyblade..."**_

_' It all returns to nothing, it all comes_

_Tumbling down, tumbling down,_

_Tumbling down '_

I felt my breath catch in my throat for just a moment as I heard the word and the voice that whispered it in my mind. I'm glad that I didn't have a drink right then or else I would definitely done a spit take from what I heard in my mind.

_' It all returns to nothing, I just keep_

_Letting me down, letting me down,_

_Letting me down '_

"_**...Call to it and it will come to you..."**_

_' In my heart of hearts,_

_I know that I could never love again_

_I've lost everything_

_Everything, everything_

_That matters to me,_

_Matters in this world '_

Actually, scratch that. Now would be when I actually did a spit take.

_' I wish that I could turn back time_

_'Cause now all the guilt is mine_

_Can't live without_

_The trust from those you love '_

"_**...But be warned: You were not one of the keyblade's chosen. He who was has passed on yet this world's torment continues. The torment must be wiped clean for the world to return to how it once was..."**_

_' I know we can't forget the past_

_We can't forget love and pride_

_Because of that, it's killing me inside '_

I lowered my head a little for a single moment as the voice reminded me of what had happened to Adam. After a moment though I raised my head back up and nodded once as I mentally called out, trying to reach Adam's long-gone keyblade. I felt a smile begin to tug on my lips as my hand slowly closed around Adam's keyblade—the Kingdom Key.

_' It all returns to nothing, it all comes_

_Tumbling down, tumbling down,_

_Tumbling down '_

"Now if I just knew where the keyhole was supposed to be around here..."

_' It all returns to nothing, I just keep_

_Letting me down, letting me down,_

_Letting me down '_

Not even a moment later though, I felt a kind of tingling sensation, I guess, coming from the Reflecting Pool's waters. I smiled as I realized what I was on the edge of. I began to make my way into the shallow water and eventually reached the center, the sensation getting stronger with each step.

_' It all returns to nothing, it all comes_

_Tumbling down, tumbling down,_

_Tumbling down '_

As I reached the center and gripped the keyblade tightly in both hands, the entire pool was suddenly engulfed in a blinding light. The last thing that I remembered before being completely blinded was a small beam of light that issued forth from the keyblade and then the clicking sound of something locking.

_' It all returns to nothing, I just keep_

_Letting me down, letting me down,_

_Letting me down '_

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair as I continued to stare at the computer screen in front of me, occasionally clicking on something of interest. It was just the first day of Spring Break and I was already bored out of my mind. How can you be bored so damn quickly? I sighed again. I glanced over at the phone for just a moment and thought about calling my friend Daniel...Nah, he's probably either busy with—

"Augh!"

—At that moment, I had felt a sharp pain in my leg and fell out of my chair and onto the carpeted floor. I rolled my blue jeans up and grimaced as I saw a long, shallow scar running from my ankle up almost to my knee on my right leg. Feeling a few more sharp pains coming from my chest, I stripped off my shirt and grimaced as I saw another scar across my right side and a third and, thank goodness, final scar across my rib cage.

"What...how'd—"

Right then every memory of what had happened rushed back into my mind and I felt my breath hitch in my throat as I relived everything in just a matter of moments. I let out a sigh of relief as I felt the rush of memories slow down to a trickle and then finally stop altogether.

"...So, all that stuff really did happen—"

"Ack!"

—I gasped a little as another sharp pain coursed through my chest. I felt it fade away after a moment and finally got back, shakily though, to my feet.

"Yeah...it _definitely_ happened."

* * *

I woke with a jolt and sat up quickly. I felt a pain in my side and checked; a long scar ran from what felt like the middle of my back around to my ribs. Another thin scar was across my arm. I threw the blankets off and changed into some clothes: my Bruce Band tee and a simple pair of jeans were the first things into my hands. I shrugged on a jacket to protect me from the cool breeze coming in and went to my parents' room. My mom was sitting on the bed reading. I told her I needed to go to town. I couldn't give her a reason, I just needed to go. She sighed deeply and handed the keys to me. I hugged her tightly, as though I hadn't seen her in ages, and ran out the door.

I drove as fast as traffic allowed, which felt extremely weird. It was as though I was being forced back into society after being captured from some barbaric time when I was able to drive like a madman.

_Adam, dead._

_Tears blurring my vision._

_Unable to see._

_Unable to speak._

_Heart, breaking into pieces._

* * *

I stretched out a little and noticed my second set/normal set of keys next to my computer. I grabbed them as well as my I-pod from my dresser and left my room. I flicked the power button to on and selected 'Shuffle' from the small screen. As I continued to walk through my house, I placed the ear buds in my ears and stuffed the I-pod into the pockets of my blue jeans as I heard the first song start up.

_' Don't look back, a new day is breakin'_

_It's been too long since I felt this way_

_I don't mind where I get taken_

_The road is callin', today is the day '_

I grabbed my shoes and put them on as well as a thin windbreaker jacket as I reached the kitchen and made my way out my front door, seeing my car back in the same condition it was before everything happened. I smiled just a little for a moment before I dug for my cell phone and quickly sent a text to the three that I knew that I needed to talk to before I got in my car and drove off…although, I figured that only two of them would meet me there. I didn't hold out much hope for the third…after all, I figured that even the keyblade must have some kind of limit on what it could and could not do.

* * *

I pulled over and threw the car into park. I cradled my head in my hands, and felt fresh tears prick their way forward. I didn't understand how, but...they were my memories. Then everything came back.

_Nixe._

_The Elementalists._

_Charon._

_Daniel going berserk._

_Sleeping in the back seat of the Isuzu as it swerved between debris._

_Bandaging Adam, Daniel, and Dustin up after a battle._

_Learning how to harness magic._

_Fighting alongside my friends to defeat the Heartless._

_Nearly drowning._

_Realizing my potential..._

I felt the tears run down my cheeks. It was real. It had all happened. I blinked the tears back and wiped the two rolling down my face off. I took a deep breath and pulled back onto the road just as my phone started vibrating as I got a text.

'_Everybody, meet up at the school ASAP.'_

* * *

' _I can see it took so long just to realize_

_I'm much too strong not to compromise_

_Now I see what I am is holding me down_

_I'll turn it around_

_I finally see the dawn arrivin'_

_I see beyond the road I'm drivin'_

_Far away and left behind '_

It took me forever, but eventually I made it to the school's parking lot and pulled in next to the only other vehicle there. I sighed just a little as I turned the engine off and took a deep breath. Instead of getting out though, I just leveled my eyes at the lone figure sitting in the car next to me until I heard another car pull into the lot.

' _It's a new horizon and I'm awakin' now_

_Oh I see myself in a brand new way_

_The sun is shinin', the clouds are breakin'_

_'Cause I can't lose now, there's no game to play '_

* * *

Two other vehicles were in the school parking lot when I pulled up. I parked and turned off the engine. I got out, and hugged my jacket closer to my sides as I walked to the other two. Dustin and Daniel got out and we stood together, making a triangle. We just stood there in silence, waiting for something to happen.

I glanced at Daniel: there was pain on his face, and grief burned in his eyes. He noticed my looking and faked a smile. I returned one as well, but put some heart behind it.

I glanced over at Dustin: he was looking at his shoes, and I noticed a rip in his jeans. On the exposed skin was a long, scarred, gash. I gave a half-smile and he returned it with a nod.

* * *

' _I can tell there's no more time left to criticize_

_I've seen what I could not recognize_

_Everything in my life was leading me on_

_But I can be strong '_

When she gave me that half-smile, I nearly asked her where Adam was until I remembered D.C. Instead, I just nodded to her and glanced away—trying to keep my eyes from connecting with either Krista's or Daniel's. After a few moments though, my ears pricked up as I heard a truck turning into the parking lot.

' _I finally see the dawn arrivin'_

_I see beyond the road I'm drivin'_

_Far away and left behind '_

* * *

A big red truck turned into the parking lot. I expected a school official to roll the window down and tell us to scatter; it was Spring Break after all. But the truck pulled into a parking space and stopped. The engine cut off and the door opened. I held my breath as a foot somewhat stumbled out, followed by another.

You could feel the tension between the three of us loosen up. I felt one foot trudge towards the truck, and the other followed. Before I knew it, I had broken into a run.

' _Don't look back, a new day is breakin'_

_It's been too long since I felt this way_

_I don't mind where I get taken_

_The road is callin', today is the day '_

I hugged Adam so tightly; I think he said something about me breaking him in half. But I couldn't hear him through my hysterical crying. Tears began to stain his clean Ole Miss shirt and I let go, somewhat reluctantly. He was real; He was solid, but most importantly: He was _alive_. I used my sleeves to wipe away the tears. We walked back over to Daniel and Dustin.

* * *

I couldn't believe the sight in front of my eyes—Adam was alive! He was really alive! I felt a smile break out on my face as Krista and he approached us. I took a few steps towards them—high-fiving Adam and slapping him on the back before he returned the gesture. After that, he walked over to Daniel—who was obviously unable to look him in the eye considering what had happened—and slapped him on the shoulder a few times anyway to let Daniel know that he was okay.

* * *

Except...

...he couldn't remember why he was okay. Not exactly. We each showed our scars from our battles, and when Adam lifted his shirt, there was nothing there but smooth skin where battle scars should have been. He even turned so we could check his back, and there was nothing. When we asked about our adventure, he remembered most of it, except for how it ended.

' _I can see it took so long just to realize_

_I'm much too strong not to compromise_

_Now I see what I am is holding me down_

_I'll turn it around '_

"So, I take it we sealed the keyhole?"

Daniel and I nodded, but I was the one tearing up.

"Well, we did, but...you see..." I tried to explain, but felt my voice failing me.

* * *

I decided to finish it for her since Daniel obviously didn't want to say anything at all about what happened. I took a deep breath and said it.

' _I finally see the dawn arrivin'_

_I see beyond the road I'm drivin'_

_Far away and left behind '_

* * *

"Adam, you... you died," Dustin finished for me as I covered my face. I felt so shameful that I couldn't even say that much. Dustin quickly filled him in, and it left Adam somewhat dumbstruck.

"Hey, I believe you. I mean, that could only explain why I remember so much," Adam reassured Dustin.

' _Don't look back_

_Don't look back_

_Don't look back_

_Don't look back '_

"Look, Daniel, you don't exactly know what happened either, and you know what, I'm not holding any grudges; we have a second chance, and this one is without Heartless."

Daniel mulled the words over, and I gave him a hug. He needed one. In fact, we all just got together and hugged it out until our legs gave out and we were sitting on the sidewalk, talking about the battles as though we were a bunch of army buddies reminiscing the good old days. I wiped the tears from my eyes and smiled, knowing that we were all alive and safe for the time being.

The wind blew through our hair and Spring Break began for us...

...for a second time.


End file.
